


Korra of Cybertron

by Rangerfan58



Series: Cybertronian foster child [23]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Mpreg due to experiments, Sparklings, Temporary Character Deaths, near character deaths, permanent disability due to injury, presumed character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 09:56:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 31
Words: 82,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12230550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangerfan58/pseuds/Rangerfan58
Summary: human raised by Cybertronians, however the relationship will get a little complicated later in story. Rape/Non-con in last chapter so can skip





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What you recognize I don't own. As always thoughts are in italics while foreign languages, sign language and alien language is in asterisks, this is also AU. Most people have high-grade as simply the Cybertronian version of alcohol, however for me it's dual purpose, yes it is basically alcohol if the Cybertronian is medium to normal charge, however it is also an emergency fuel source that gets them just enough time to make it to safety where they are then taken to medical and given constant Energon, or medical grade if it's determined to be needed. Okay two things, first is that Prowl, Bluestreak and Smokescreen are typically presented as family in fics, that is not the case until after an event mentioned in the story, the second thing is that Bumblebee and Bluestreak are presented as the youngest members of the team, while that part is the same, they are not younglings or sparklings like typically presented, instead they are already adults when the war starts, albeit young adults that are the equivalent of being in their early twenties, the rest are the equivalent of mid twenties to early thirties except for Ratchet and Ironhide, they're mid forties and early fifties respectively, having served in the army before and retired to civilian life before the war started up. ::is comm speak / is bond speak. I like time skips for some reason, if there's going to be a lot going on within a brief period, or if it's a long period of time skips I will do explaining within the time skips, otherwise it will be a brief mention of general information about that time skip period. During at least one phone call I will write both sides of the conversation denoting which side it is, normally I don't but for at least the conversation that has both sides fully written it's needed. I will temporarily focus on two different characters and their conditions and aftermath for a bit, but after that they or at least the result of the condition will only be mentioned briefly in passing more than likely for one of them, the other result is mentioned a little more frequently due to what happens to them in regards to their condition

Galvatron, Rodimus, Punch and Jazz were all at the front of the base talking about a mission and patrol when suddenly an EDC car pulled up and Captain Faireborn stepped out, however she did not immediately go over to them but instead went to the back of her car and brought out a baby and then came up to them like she normally did

"Hello Captain Faireborn, what's with the baby?"

"A right complicated mess I'm afraid"

"Oh I can't wait to hear this one"

"Jazz you need to be involved to confirm what my sources have already told me. Now then this child is Korra Kerenai, her parents were both EDC officers until...until a month ago shortly after she was born. They were killed in a drive by shooting at a police station visiting the father's uncle who works in a police station, or did seeing as how he was also killed. She immediately went into foster care and foster care placed her in my care so as to keep her within her parents line of work at least temporarily, what I need you for Jazz is to confirm she has no living relatives left to care for her, your people can get those answers faster than the courts can"

"How did this little one survive the incident?"

"Fortunately for her she was inside the police station being looked after by a female police officer who was a close friend to the uncle and as such was well trusted with the newborn"

"I'll get on it right away Marissa, and also have Prowl using his resources as well, what will happen to her once it's confirmed that she's an orphan?"

"She'll remain in foster care until she's adopted or her parents Last Will is read and confirmed"

"Why hasn't that been done during this month period?"

(Sighs) "I'm afraid her parents have made that complicated in that their lawyer stated their instructions were to not have their Last Will read until it has been confirmed by both the courts and the EDC that she has no living relatives left, something about a special reason and request involved"

A month later the EDC and courts had finally confirmed that Korra had no living relatives left, not even distant relatives and her parents Last Will was read and it was indeed a special request that shocked everyone, her parents had asked that someone within the EDC adopted her including it's founding members, though if said founding members adopted her the request was made that help was given to said founding members, and all EDC officers knew that meant that the Kerenai's had been talking about the Cybertronians. After the will reading the three Cybertronian leaders  _talked_ , both with each other and with the government to figure out just how it would work and if it was even legal for them to do so regardless of her parents will. Finally it was decided that the Cybertronians would be the ones to adopt her with Captain Faireborn having authority to sign paperwork on their behalf if it was needed, as she got old enough to travel they would extend that authority to all base commanders around the world but for the moment, at her young age it was just Faireborn that had that authority. They also would make sure that they had plenty of help in her early years, tentatively until she was five but could be extended at a moments notice at need

"She's going to have one interesting family as she grows up"

"Indeed she is, by the way I was wondering just  _how_  was the paperwork managed so that the  _entire Cybertronian army_  signed the adoption making them all her legal guardians?"

"It was...complicated, but done legally and admittedly with a lot of paper copies of our signatures, in English and Cybertronian glyphs"

"Oh she's going to have an interesting education in regards to reading and writing in one of her two native languages isn't she?"

"Yep, don't forget she's also most likely going to learn how to speak Cybertronian as well"

"We're in for an interesting five or so years aren't we?"

"Yes, yes we are, all of us, humans and Cybertronians alike"

"Oh by the way I'm making this my headquarters until further notice due to all the legal stuff that's just happened with her"

"Understood, do you have any plans for if something happens on base?"

"Yup, I go into hiding with her, this basically means I am considered either inactive or reserve for the next five to seven years but this little one will be worth it"

"Oh fair warning, Prowl and Red Alert have teamed up for Korra's safety"

"Oh boy, this will be interesting and they'll be modifying their plans accordingly once they learn about me won't they?"

"Exactly"

"How did the rest of the army take it anyways when they heard about the adoption?"

"They were... _annoyed_  initially about several things in regards to the adoption, including the incident you were involved in, but ultimately knew it was for the best that we adopted Korra ourselves"

"Oh?"

"Yeah...we actually looked into Korra's parents after the will was read and realized that we were the best canidates due to them actually being one of Jazz' human operatives"

"Wait what?"

"Yeah...let me explain what happened"

_Flashback_

"Sir, is it really a good idea for us to adopt a human child?"

"That's why we're talking and actually looking into her parents background Prowl"

"Okay, but why weren't we informed about this possibility sooner?"

"Her parent's lawyer made him keep silence on their Last Will until certain requirements were met"

"I want to talk to this lawyer"

"No Barricade, you will not do anything for him following his instructions given to him by his customers regarding legal matters, he is obligated to follow their instructions, including any final instructions regarding their death and the reading of their Last Will"

"Fine"

The rest of the army was also annoyed at a lot of things regarding what was happening to Korra, including finding out that she was orphaned at only two weeks old,  _that_  had taken the expertise of all three leaders, Prowl, Barricade, Jazz, Red Alert, Starscream  _and_  Faireborn when she heard disturbing talks about the criminals in her hearing to get them to not act on it. During that time they looked into the Kerenai's background to see just how dangerous it would be for a normal EDC officer to adopt Korra and that's when it was discovered that they had been two of Jazz' few human operatives

"Jazz, why didn't you recognize the name earlier?"

"Simple, I made sure that all my human operatives gave me their reports under code names, not to mention I never meet with them in person, all information is given to each side second hand"

"How do you know if you've lost an operative then?"

"That's complicated and also confirmed through means that are to remain a secret to everyone but me, however since they are now dead I  _can_ tell you that they were two of my best operatives, though about a year ago they suddenly asked for temporary reassignment now that I think about it, that must have been when they discovered that they were expecting Korra"

"Did you grant them the reassignment?"

"Not immediately, but only because I needed them for a mission that only they could have accomplished, though I also told them that they could pull resources from any section of the EDC no questions asked with my written orders as Meister. Once I had confirmation that the mission was completed I assigned them to a different section of my unit with instructions to let me know when they could actively participate in missions again"

"Where did you reassign them?"

"Mostly desk work by having them analyze any reports coming in from the field, but I also made sure that to keep their skills sharp that they were class teachers, teaching the ropes to a new group of agents in the classroom, with other agents taking over for field training"

"Okay, so what does this mean for Korra and the ones who adopt her?"

"That's the thing, I don't think anyone but us should adopt her, not even Captain Faireborn"

"What makes you say that Jazz?"

(Sighs) "I know the ins and outs of spec ops, I know better than anyone that what you do in the field can garner enemies, as such I keep a  _very_  close eye on my human operatives, and if needed pair them with one of my fellow Cybertronians who are also operatives, the human operatives are unaware of their Cybertronian counterparts except at need, however Korra's parents...only one team of human operatives beat them and that's only because that team found out about a mission that I had approved for Cybertronian operatives, managed to complete said mission  _on their own_ , decided to help with secondary objectives  _of their own_  including destroying the location they were at, gather intelligence I wasn't even aware was needed until I gave it to Prowl, all without serious injury and before I even gave it to my planned Cybertronian operatives, because I got to tell you I was going to tell those Cybertronian operatives about the mission the day after I received their reports, and another thing all of this happened within three days of me even deciding that the mission was needed. Once that happened I made sure that those human operatives had Cybertronian counterparts with them at all times, Korra's parents were supposed to be getting that level of protection as well but they discovered my plans and insisted that they were fine to not have protection. As I knew any operative would be discovered I used my own brand of subterfuge and kept a closer eye on any of their enemies, and some of those enemies are too dangerous for normal EDC officers to handle, even with Cybertronian operatives by their side, as such it's simply safer for us to have Korra from the beginning"

"Understood Jazz your opinion is noted, Prowl what do you think?"

"I have to agree with Jazz on this, if the enemies are that dangerous there's no telling what they'll do to get to Korra, the last living link to their enemies, because as far as I understand some of them have no morals and will go after an innocent child for the sins of the parents"

The three leaders discuss this on their own and come to a decision

"Very well, we'll take the matter up with the rest of the army but we will most likely be the ones to adopt Korra as long as the courts agree"

The rest of the army was behind the adoption of Korra though, they didn't have the full story but the Cybertronian spec ops agents had spread word that Korra's parents had been important to them for reasons that they wouldn't get into and also let slip some of the unclassified missions they had helped with which set public opinion against anyone else adopting Korra. There were minor issues that had to be resolved around their adoption, not least of which was the fact that it was complicated to have everyone sign the legal document due to their size, plus they had to figure out how to sign it to make it all legal and it was decided that they would use the English versions of their Cybertronian names signing with both English and Cybertronian glyphs,  _that_  took some doing with paper. Once everything was resolved though Korra was officially the adopted daughter of the Cybertronians

"Now what?"

"Now we take care of our daughter, while also asking for human help for the first few years of her young life"

"Plus, I have something to do in regards to Korra's parents, something only I can handle"

"Jazz..."

Rodimus' warning tone stopped Jazz cold knowing that the only reason Optimus, Galvatron, and Prowl had stayed silent was because he was the designated speaker that day

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad, just something important to me that I feel can finally be done now that everything is resolved, and it shouldn't take more than two hours, if it does call me and I'll immediately return to base"

Jazz leaves and heads to where Korra's parents were buried, the final thing that Jazz always did for any of his fallen agents was a private ceremony unique to each officer for the most part, the only time it wasn't was if he lost multiple agents at once or during the civil war caused by the Quintessons, but all fallen human agents got a unique ceremony. The only thing that remained the same was that Energon was spilt over the graves at every ceremony, and that was the start of the ceremony as well, Jazz pulled out a knife and cut his hand and then made sure his Energon fell onto the graves of Korra's parents

"With this Energon I vow to protect your daughter alongside my fellow Cybertronians, I will tell her stories about you when she is old enough to understand, I will keep your enemies from finding out about her, or from killing her if she is discovered. Should I fall I will designate another to take my place as her teacher in your ways, both human and spying, she will learn everything she can to keep herself alive should she follow in your footsteps. I also vow to keep up the fight and never rest until it is over for good, the only reason I shall fail is if I am terminated myself, no injury will keep me from completing my mission to you guys. I Jazz, Head of Special Operations and Third-in-Command so vow and though there are no witnesses to this vow I will make it known in our ways as spec ops agents, know that your daughter will always be safe with another Cybertronian spec ops agent, and should that agent fail to protect her know that I will dish out punishment myself. I just wish I could have done more to protect you, even with you denying my protection in the first place"

Jazz then lights their version of incense and simply stands there honoring them as the spec ops agents they were, leaving with just enough time to spare on his time limit that he had given. When he got back Ratchet noticed the cut on Jazz's hand and confronted him with others nearby

"What did you do to yourself Jazz?"

"That's private Ratchet"

"Not when you hurt yourself, that cut is deep and could have injured delicate sensors causing permanent damage to your hand"

"It's private Ratchet, and it's not as bad as you think it is, I am not explaining anything to you, or anyone else"

"Says who?"

"Easy Galvatron, says me, I am claiming silence under the spec ops code of conduct regarding the privacy of my agents or myself with personal matters, it won't spill into our jobs or affect the rest of the crew, if it did I would tell you, but it won't, as such I am keeping my silence...period, is that understood?"

"Yes Jazz, it's understood, however if that cut gets infected you  _are_  telling the Primes and I what happened am  _I_  clear?"

"Yes Galvatron I understand"

What Jazz didn't know was that there was a spec ops agent who knew  _exactly_  what Jazz had done because they had been watching him from the very start of the war and their career as one of Jazz's agents. Mirage was the sole secret witness to every ceremony that Jazz had performed for his spec ops agents, he had only ever missed one ceremony back on Cybertron, that ceremony had been his own and that was because he had been in stasis, in a Decepticon brig, halfway across Cybertron after a mission had gone seriously wrong, and he had been captured and presumed dead. His being discovered captive had been completely by accident when another agent had infiltrated the place he was being held in three months after he was declared dead. The agent was unable to get Mirage out themselves, however there was a nearby Autobot patrol that they managed to get to being led by Ironhide, and while he didn't mention Mirage by name at the time due to not quite believing that it wasn't an impostor (that had been done before to almost devastating effect with another deceased agent) he did mention that he believed that there was an Autobot captive. They rescued Mirage, who was no longer constantly in stasis, and got him back to headquarters where it was confirmed to really be Mirage. After he recovered he went to where he had supposedly fallen calling Jazz to that location, and while he never told Jazz that he knew about Jazz's ceremony he did make sure that the job was truly properly completed by another agent, Jazz was there as back up and because quite frankly Mirage knew that Jazz would go crazy if Mirage had gone out on his own so soon after being returned to them from certain death. Mirage kept silent vigil over Jazz whenever he did his ceremony, even once on Earth with the civil war over he continued to watch over Jazz, and when Jazz gained human agents Mirage changed his pattern, he continued to watch over Jazz whenever he performed his ceremony, but later, much, much later he would sneak out and do his own little ceremony confirming Jazz's vow and making vows of his own to watch over Jazz and to let him know if the time ever came what Mirage had been doing, his ceremony was much quicker though, just a few simple words and then he was gone, leaving only flowers behind as was human custom. After he finished his own ceremony for Korra's parents he did what he always did after one of Jazz's ceremonies and made sure that Jazz neither worked himself into stasis or had complications from the cut on his hand knowing that it was possible even with how careful Jazz was about cuts of any sort, including self inflicted cuts, he only had to learn that lesson the hard way once when he and Jazz had both been injured in a fire fight and a cut that Jazz acquired had gotten infected despite Jazz doing daily wound cleaning. Jazz had gone down and gone down hard, being put into Medical stasis to save his life, after that day Mirage made sure to catch even the most subtle of signs that cuts or wounds were getting infected and got whoever had said infection, including Jazz a couple of times to Ratchet or First Aid before the situation became critical

"Well for now, seeing as how Korra is our legal daughter we need to adapt our security system to her needs, now and for the future, Red Alert care to join me?"

"With pleasure Prowl"

The rest of the group leave the two to go at it for Korra's safety knowing that they were the best to do so, though at one point they did ask Starscream, Blaster, Soundwave and Wheeljack for help knowing that they were needed, the two communication members because of their cassettes which allowed them the ability to get into places a small human would be able to, which in Korra's case was  _dangerous_ and as for Starscream and Wheeljack they were scientists and that was their final word whenever the two security members were questioned about it

_Present_


	2. Chapter 2

"And that's basically how we found out about Korra's parents and came to the decision to adopt her, now then we still need to inform Prowl and Red Alert about you coming to live here until Korra is old enough to not need so much help and they'll modify everything accordingly"

"Still it's surprising to learn about Korra's parents considering I never suspected them of being spec ops agents and I  _know_  how to detect the agents, or at least I thought I knew how"

That's when Jazz speaks up

"Don't blame yourself Captain, I deliberately do my best to train all my human operatives to keep themselves from being noticed by their bosses, especially if they are in the EDC, police or military, the better they take to the training the more dangerous the missions they can go on with ease"

"Understood, bet some of them took what you taught them and improvised it to make it their own"

"Exactly, and for Korra's parents it's a good thing they were as good as they were at hiding their true selves because it kept them out of trouble a few times on assignments given to them by me"

"But those skills still took a price at having very dangerous enemies whenever they're recognized huh?"

"Yes, it does come at such a price unfortunately"

"One thing you have to understand about Jazz Captain Faireborn is that he has never given an agent more than they can handle for a mission, even training missions, and if he ever feels that an agent won't be able to handle something he either doesn't assign the agent to that mission  _or_  he makes sure that the agent has proper backup so that things go as smoothly as possible"

"Okay then, by the way where's the team that beat Korra's parents?"

That no one was sure of seeing as how Jazz had left before the question was asked due to the fact that he had wanted to leave before things got personal, but later that day he had no choice but to hear the question since there was a group meeting to discuss what was going to happen with Faireborn living on the base with them until Korra was old enough to handle herself

"By the way, call me Marissa since I'm going to be living here, now then I have a very important question Jazz, where is the team that beat Korra's parents?"

"Dead...they died about a year before Korra was ever conceived, they were on vacation ironically enough when one of their enemies discovered them, they made sure that no civilians got caught up in the battle and actually survived the injuries incurred in the fight, what they didn't know because they didn't allow that to be checked for was that their wounds had actually been poisoned, I have the cure with me at all times, had it back then as well but while I can force my Cybertronian agents to get checked for poisons I make a special agreement with all my human agents that I will never force them to go through the same medical checks that they go through if they come to me conscious and alert unless they themselves ask for it. They made their report to me and I dismissed them thinking everything was okay, three days later they landed in medical in critical condition and by that time it was too late for the antidote to be effective, they died about eight hours after they were admitted to the medical facilities"

"Let me guess the policy that you established has since been changed for everyone's safety"

"Nope, or at least not completely, I still have that agreement with them with the exception of making it mandatory that they get checked for poison after every mission they risk coming into contact with poison and every unexpected fight, and those checks are daily until there is no doubt left that they are in the clear for poisons since most of them are detectable fairly quickly, but a few are delayed long enough that it's necessary for them to be checked past a certain time frame"

"Do those agents even understand why you suddenly changed that aspect of the policy?"

"Yeah, I sent a message to all of them about what happened to the two agents, and here's the other rule but that applies to my Cybertronian agents, they are to never leave the side of their human counterparts ever again, that's how they got poisoned in the first place, my Cybertronian agents left their counterparts because their counterparts requested some actual alone time, I made it a point to let my Cybertronian agents know that is no longer going to be allowed, even if they're detected they stay with their assignment with their human counterparts"

"Got it, now to figure out how things are going to go for the next five to seven years"

It would turn out to have lots of ups and downs and a few surprises over the next five years, including discovering that Korra had powers at age four, when that happened training began immediately in her learning to control her abilities, but ultimately they discovered that she also needed a necklace that absorbed her abilities to help with the control, though they were hopeful that in the future the necklace wouldn't be necessary at the moment it most definitely was. Learning her two natives languages had also been an interesting experience for the whole group

"Okay, now what?"

"Now we work with her to make sure she can defend herself, and start thinking about both schooling for her and what your plans are next Marissa"

"As for me I would prefer to go back to active duty, but only after she's proven she can now take care of herself properly with minimal help from me, I've taught you guys everything I know for the past five years, and some of it we've learned together, now though it's up to both you and Korra to decide if she's ready for me not to be by her side at all times"

"By the way, and she's the one who asked me, is she going to get medical training for you guys?"

"Not until she's older if she still wants to learn, I am not starting that sort of education until she's either ten or eleven, but I'm fine with her learning some basic human first aid given to her in a way she would understand so that she can start learning a little more independence in regards to her own safety and health"

"Hm...cuts and bruises will work for now, as she grows older and is able to understand more we can expand it as much as she wants, up to a certain point, and of course self defense is a must for her"

"Exactly"

Suddenly though they hear an alarm and it wasn't good, it indicated that there were severe injuries and unfortunately they weren't sure if it was the Cybertronian team or the human team who had the severe injuries, though it would turn out both teams had injuries that were severe. Barricade was the worst out of both groups hands down, but a few of the EDC officers were pretty bad as well, the worst off was one that had second degree burns from helping keep Barricade alive, they also had a broken ankle, though they thought it was only a sprain at the time. Barricade had a hole in his chest near his spark chamber, was "bleeding" all over and blind

"Okay, he needs surgery immediately"

Six hours later everyone was still waiting on news about Barricade when finally First Aid came out of the operating room

"How is Barricade First Aid?"

"He...he died a few minutes ago, maybe Ratchet would have been able to save him, but with him in China right now he would have never gotten here in time, I'm sorry Prowl I'm just not good enough"

"Yes you are, there are those that even Ratchet is unable to save, you know that First Aid...for now though I will inform the Primes and Galvatron about Barricade's death"

"No, I need to make an official report to them as the head medical officer whenever Ratchet isn't here"

"Understood, but I insist on being there to support you back to your quarters"

"Fine, you need to know how he died anyways because it could affect you in the future specifically"

The two head to Optimus' office knowing that he was there that day and soon discovered that the other two leaders were also there

"What's going on you two?"

(Sighs) "You'll have my full report later once I compile the reports from the other medics, but for now you need to know that Barricade...is dead, he died from a combination of his injuries and high-grade poisoning"

"How though?"

"That I'm not entirely sure but...it looks like he was sensitive to high-grade and didn't know it, now normally that isn't a problem but his injuries meant that I had to adapt to make sure that he was receiving medical grade Energon, however the way I did it meant that the medical grade somehow converted itself into high-grade. Prowl I'm worried that the same will happen to you if you are ever injured to the point that I have to do the same to you that I did to Barricade, and with you having an actual allergy to high-grade..."

"We need to figure out what we can do to my systems so that you don't accidentally kill me in surgery"

"Exactly"

"How sensitive was Barricade?"

"Having a cube would have made him sick the next day and naturally having a hangover, two or more would have landed him in the medbay with us working as fast as we could to reverse the damage the high-grade was doing, unfortunately for me during surgery I was doing my best to repair his injuries and the poisoning happened so slowly that by the time I noticed that complication it was already too late, though I did my best according to Prowl I don't feel I did"

(Sighs) "I understand First Aid, for now compile the rest of the reports and once Ratchet is back we'll have him review what you did for Barricade to see what might need modified for Prowl and to see if there was anything different you might have been able to do"

Two days later Ratchet was back and learned of what had happened while he was gone, Korra herself knew that something was up but being that she was learning independence she wasn't aware of much within her family, that would change sooner than expected but for the moment all she knew was that something was going on between First Aid, Ratchet, the Primes and Galvatron. As for her Cybertronian family it was discovered that there was nothing First Aid could have done differently to bring out a better outcome. Barricade needed the modifications just to get medical grade Energon into him and unfortunately due to the fact that there had been no time to test for possible issues, and the fact that Barricade's sensitivity to high-grade was unknown, First Aid had done what he had thought best and as such Barricade was  _very_  slowly poisoned with high-grade, the only thing that would have made any difference was another medic to closely monitor Barricade during surgery, but due to how few Cybertronians were properly trained and Ratchet away on a medical conference that just wasn't an option that time. As for how it affected Prowl it was decided to figure out another safe method for any future injuries like Barricade had had so that the problem never arose again, either for Prowl who would literally die from high-grade or any other Cybertronians who would be unable to temporarily process the high-grade for whatever reason because that did happen on occasion


	3. Chapter 3

"Though it might take time to discover a safe method we hope to do so soon, the problem is Prowl was never injured that seriously in the war for us to truly think about it"

"No need, not when I wasn't involved in too many battles, granted the risk was greater when I was an enforcer but my precinct did what they could to minimize the risks of injury to me knowing of my allergy, which even you have to admit Ratchet was rare"

"Too rare if you ask me, it took way too long to figure out a solution for Cybertronians like you"

"Only during the war was a partial solution discovered and purely by accident I might add"

"Who discovered it anyways?"

"Jazz...well okay more like Jazz and Bumblebee discovered it during a patrol I was part of and we were extremely low on Energon"

"Okay what was the partial solution?"

"Mix low-grad and mid-grade together to make a solution that acts like high-grade, but without it having the same affect if given to someone who has enough energy, the problem with that solution is that it doesn't last nearly as long as actual high-grade, nor was it as effective, I got about half the energy a normal Cybertronian would have gotten from high-grade and lasted a third longer than the other two on rations, basically for every one ration of mid-grade to high-grade that they drank I needed two and a half to three of the equivalent, it's part of why we took so long to get back and why I was in such bad shape when we did get back, my only saving grace is that for some reason even if someone is allergic to high-grade they're not allergic to medical grade"

"Except in this apparent new situation"

"Agreed, now then, when...when will we put Barricade to rest?"

"Soon, give me another three days with him and he'll be ready"

Three days later they entombed Barricade and left his body in a place they knew wouldn't be disturbed by human forces. Korra who was still young was not present but she knew about Barricade's death. A week later she was getting ready to start school when they discovered something new, her back was turned when suddenly she spoke without turning

"Sideswipe you'd better not be trying to sneak past me for a prank on Prowl or Red Alert because..."

Sideswipe, who was trying to sneak past Korra to avoid visiting Ratchet, had stopped at the same time that Korra had started, she turned and confirmed it was indeed Sideswipe who now knew Ratchet was unavoidable

"Sideswipe...did I just identify you without looking at you?"

"Yes...you did"

"Ratchet?"

"Ratchet"

Three hours later Faireborn, the Primes, Galvatron, Prowl, Starscream, Jazz and Soundwave were in medbay having been called by Ratchet with an urgent message

"Okay what's going on?"

"It's Korra, apparently, she can now sense Cybertronian energy fields and use it to identify one of us, Sideswipe here was trying to avoid me by sneaking past her, it failed, here's the thing though she wasn't even looking at him when she identified him"

"It's true I was making preparations for first day of school"

(Sighs) "I think I need to make a few phone calls"

"Exactly Marissa, and in the meantime she's going to be undergoing a battery of tests to see if this is related to her powers or something else which could be potentially dangerous for humans"

Through a combination of tests and phone calls it was discovered that Korra's abilities had slightly influenced her in that she could instinctively tell an energy field was friendly or not, however her living with them almost her entire life meant that her brain had adapted and taught herself what each individual energy field felt like for her family

"We have no clue how this will affect you in the future though"

"Well, at least I will always recognize my family and that's the most important thing in my mind"

"Agreed"

Three months later Korra's ability would be put to good use. Barricade had been buried with full honors and had been confirmed dead, however what no one expected to happen was his being discovered completely by accident and because of weather. A group of miners had accidentally dug into where he was entombed due to escaping a fierce thunderstorm and had discovered his body and recognized him to be a Cybertronian, they thought long and hard about what to do and quickly realized that Barricade was basically dead. What they did instead of letting the Cybertronians know though was give him to scientists who respected the Cybertronians enough to let them know about any they came across, but only after making any repairs they could that would help bring them back if possible from deep stasis or even mild stasis lock. As such they themselves did what they could first and then left it to the Cybertronian medical team but because of their work they were at least able to produce Energon to help their patients before returning them to the Cybertronians. Two and a half months after receiving Barricade's remains the scientists had managed to get small improvements in his systems that they were able to monitor, that day though they also had Korra and her classmates for a special field trip and they were walking past where he was being kept when Korra suddenly froze and wouldn't move

"Korra are you okay?"

"It can't be...he's dead"

One of the scientists were nearby and noticed Korra's face being pale and decided it was in his best interest to see what was wrong with the child

"Miss are you okay?"

That brought Korra out of her thoughts for a moment but the intense look she gave the scientist told him that she wanted the truth out of him

"Are you helping any Cybertronians at the moment?"

"Yes...we are, come I will take you to them, you're an EDC kid?"

"Yes...a very special one"

They take Korra to where they were currently keeping Barricade, who was still very weak and unconscious but also very much alive, as soon as she saw him she ran up to him and everyone there could tell her surprise and relief in her voice

"Barricade!"

"Ah, so this one is called Barricade?"

"Yes but...how can this be? I was told he was dead, killed in battle, how is he here alive?"

"That we're not entirely sure about, but now that we have this new information we would like to call the Cybertronians and tell them what's going on, maybe they can give us answers themselves, or if not we'll be able to work together to find out"

An hour later Ratchet was at the facility and talking with the scientists explaining everything that had happened, the only reason First Aid was not also there was because it had been discovered that anything involving Barricade or what happened to him caused memory blackouts for some reason, and until the issue was resolved First Aid wasn't safe around anyone or anything to do with Barricade, and that included his potentially being alive instead of dead. As soon as he entered the room he confirmed that it was indeed Barricade, and also confirmed he was in stasis, but how that was possible he wasn't sure since while doing his own repairs he had tried to bring Barricade back and failed. During this second exam Ratchet noticed that something was off and investigated it, and that's when he discovered the insidious virus hidden within him that had attacked First Aid, it not only faked death to everyone who saw him medically or not, but it also infected the first person it came in contact with and made them forget about the virus that they would have discovered, thus the reason behind the memory blackouts whenever Barricade's death was mentioned or talked about, even in a formal interview about the incident to be able to clear him. And when checked for a virus it wasn't discovered because the virus was very well hidden, but now that Ratchet knew about the virus he could do something about it, he also discovered the other reason why First Aid was having so much trouble lately. Barricade himself had done what he could to protect the others subconsciously from the virus and inserted a special little program that protected the processors of every medic to come in contact with him, the problem was the firewall was so strong that it was clashing with First Aid's own firewalls which made the blackouts worse since the reason why they were so dangerous in the first place was because the blackouts would occasionally cause a Cybertronian version of a seizure (though they weren't aware of that fact quite yet and wouldn't know of that possibility for some time yet). Ratchet had also figured out that Barricade had done so unintentionally in regards to the strength which was part of why he was still unconscious, First Aid was needed because Barricade had unintentionally set his systems to wake up after First Aid had confirmed to his processors that the virus was no longer a threat, but the clashing firewalls meant that while the virus wasn't a threat First Aid was unable to to confirm that for himself or Barricade and as such it kept Barricade unconscious in a stasis that was very, very rare and potentially dangerous for everyone and thus needed resolved as quickly and safely as possible

"Congratulations you've earned yourselves two extra Cybertronian guests until further notice, and we might need to make modifications to our agreement, but that will come later"

::First Aid come to my location immediately, Primes, Galvatron, inform Hook he's the medic until further notice, I'll give you a better situation report after I have First Aid sorted out at my location::

"You've also earned a child staying with you"

"Korra..."

"Sorry Ratchet, but...I need to stay, I don't know why but I need to"

"You have school you need to attend"

"I know but..."

"Wait...before an argument breaks out we have the means of tutoring her until further notice, we need her here for her own safety Ratchet, when she came in...hook into our computers for a moment and you'll see"

Ratchet looks at the results and is concerned and realizes that it was safer for Korra to remain

"Korra you're allowed to stay, but are going to be undergoing tests while here, something's up with your abilities again, could be the result of our recent discovery but could be potential trouble"

"Figures"

Fifteen minutes later (Ratchet had to take an hour to transfer some patients care and instructions to First Aid per protocol) First Aid had arrived and been shown to Ratchet who was standing right at the door and used a medical override to knock First Aid unconscious before he ever saw Barricade and then got to work dealing with the virus and Barricade's defenses for the medic. Three days later First Aid was in the clear but would remain unconscious for another two weeks. While that was happening Korra's issues were resolved through testing, it was discovered that her abilities were still settling down in regards to her now being able to consistently identify her family and also the energy fields of normal humans, it was also eventually discovered that human computers were throwing her body chemistry off slightly due to mild radiation, at least at laboratories like they were currently at, EDC computers and other normal computers would never give her that same reaction. Finally though First Aid woke up and Ratchet was waiting like always

"Hello First Aid, now before you get up and look to your left I need to tell you not to panic at what you see"

"Why would I...Ratchet is that...is that really him?"

"Yes, he's alive First Aid, but he can't wake up, not until you let him know it's safe to do so, the Primes and Galvatron already know about him but the rest of the army doesn't, and won't know until you wake him up successfully for everyone's emotional well being"

"Understood"

First Aid sent the appropriate codes for Barricade hoping that it would work

"Now all we can do is wait I think, considering how long he's been in this stasis"

"How long?"

"How long did you have to wait for me to wake up?"

"Two weeks"

"Then we give him three, one week longer than me considering everything he's been through since we thought we'd lost him"

Fortunately for everyone involved Barricade woke up three days after First Aid sent the appropriate codes for Barricade to know it was safe, part of that was how he had designed the firewall against the virus this time, though he was admittedly not very coherent the first three times he woke up which meant no one but the two medics knew initially while they tried to figure out what the problem was, which turned out to be very simple in that his systems were still adjusting to post operative status and the antivirus given to him by First Aid and Ratchet, after his systems adjusted though he was definitely coherent and demanding of answers in regards to how long he had been unconscious. Finding out that the virus affected First Aid and made him seem dead was a shock to him, that it had taken a little over three and a half months to recover was only slightly less of a shock having known instinctively that part of that was the period of being thought dead

"So can we go home now?"

"Not quite yet Barricade, need to inform the base about you and then there's the fact that I want to make sure you're able to move properly considering the damage you initially took and then how long it's been since you've moved"

"But Ratchet..."

"No but Ratchet's from you mister, or do you want a wrench?"

"Never mind"

"Good" (comm) ::Primes, Galvatron, inform the others about Barricade, but let them know that he isn't going to be home until I clear him personally::

::He's coherent?::

::Yes, the initial issues were a combination of post operative adjustment and the antivirus we gave him, minor conflict introduced into his systems that needed to be resolved by his own antivirus systems::

::Understood, we'll let the base know then::

It would take another three days for Ratchet to feel comfortable with Barricade going home but finally he was back where he belonged and welcomed with open arms and very happy soldiers who had mourned his loss


	4. Chapter 4

*Next time, don't do that*

*I hope there won't be a next time, but Prowl don't forget that part of the problem was battle damage*

*And I was close enough to know what happened during battle, I was talking about what you did to get that damage in the first place*

*So, how were you discovered anyways?*

*Korra*

*Korra?*

*Yeah, something about my energy field*

*Oh, okay I know what she's talking about*

*Now what?*

*Now we simply live our normal lives*

Six months later things were normal when suddenly Prowl collapsed and Korra, who was with him due to what they were doing was by his side instantly

"What's wrong?"

"He's low on energy, extremely low I might add"

Sunstreaker was with her as well and did a brief scan

"Prowl, how long has this been going on?"

"Not long, and unpredictable as well, Ratchet is monitoring the situation okay?"

"Fine"

"Good, now to get you back to base, normally I would be using high-grade because it's needed unfortunately..."

"Yeah, Prowl just happens to be allergic to high-grade"

"How allergic are we talking about?"

"It could kill him allergic, that was found out when he was young by the way and they were lucky it was such a tiny amount he was given, otherwise he would be dead"

"And just how are you even carrying Energon Kerenai?"

"Um...am I allowed to answer that Sunstreaker?"

"Not that I'm aware of"

"Then sorry but I can't tell you, in the meantime we need to get Prowl back to base somehow"

"I'll call First Aid, what with Ratchet under mandatory orders not to do anything in regards to Prowl right now"

"Good point"

"Why would that be the case if he's currently watching Prowl's condition?"

"That's because due to said watch he's overworked himself and Galvatron told him to stop being Prowl's physician for a week and get some rest, and I think First Aid sedated him to get him to sleep in the first place too"

"Yeah, I was there for that actually"

"Korra..."

"Sorry Sunstreaker, but when I have to get permission for something and everyone but the medic is busy I go to the medic first, and then  _only_  then if I determine that they too are busy I will interrupt someone's work long enough for them to sign paperwork, and you know full well I don't disturb anyone in recharge"

"Okay, that's understandable then, but still you know we don't like you seeing the medics at work too often, not until you're old enough to be taught things, and when I say old enough I mean that Ratchet has stated that you're ready to learn what he has to teach you"

"I know, but with Captain Faireborn out of country there was no other options, not that she would have really been able to sign the form anyways since as far as I know her signature is for emergency situations that involve me"

"True, though it took  _forever_  to figure out how to sign normal sized paper, but we did it to take care of you properly"

"Yes, I heard the stories"

"What did you need permission for anyways?"

"Something in regards to my self defense training, it was required by all students to get that permission by the way not just me"

"Oh yeah, I forgot for a moment that your self defense training is now being handled by outside sources for...reasons that I am not aware are public"

"They're not"

That night Korra had lessons and her teacher was speaking

"Okay students, now that you have started getting used to moving blindfolded it is time to start teaching you how to fight in that condition, because you can be blind temporarily or permanently depending on several different factors, Kerenai, Parker you're up first, go  _slowly_  and keep yourselves close to each other, at least to start out, I will tell you if you're out of bounds or not and if you have the point or not. You will eventually learn how to read the environment around you but for now since that isn't possible I am doing what I can to limit injuries, if I call a stop to anything you stop immediately am I understood?"

"Yes sensei"

"Good"

That night everyone made mistakes, but the teacher was expecting that and as such didn't reprimand them too harshly for the most part, the only exception to the case was a student who was slightly more advanced in that they had been taught from about the same age as Korra, but in a different style than what they were learning now. And the only reason she was harsher was because he made several mistakes that would have gotten him, or someone else seriously hurt if it had been a true spar and should have known better, even if it was the first time fighting blindfolded

"Okay class, we'll be working on this until everyone is comfortable fighting without their sense of sight, however I do have one more comment for a specific student, as such Kerenai, you need to stay back after class is dismissed"

"Understood sensei"

Fifteen minutes later class was dismissed and Korra stayed behind per the "request" she was given

"What's wrong sensei?"

(Sighs) "I need to know how much you're aware of in regards to my security clearance"

"I was told by Captain Faireborn that unless the situation calls for it I will not be automatically told about security clearances someone has until I am at least ten years old, something about being taught how to keep things classified properly and other bits of training that goes along with it, but she also said that the people with the security clearance can tell me their level if they deem it necessary"

"It's necessary that you know that I am completely cleared to know about you, it's why I specified a parent or legal guardian had to sign the permission slips. The other reason I need you to know is so that you can tell your family that I need your training to be accelerated as safely as possible in regards to you learning how to fight without your sense of sight, and eventually without your sense of hearing. The  _reason_  I need you to accelerate that kind of training is because of my actual background, I was an undercover police officer for several years and still have connections to the underground world of criminals. I am hearing rumors of something major being planned against the EDC and as such I need you ready for such an event and able to properly protect yourself if it should ever come to it"

"Thus why my training needs accelerated"

"Exactly, tell the Primes and Galvatron that Carolyn 'Shadowstrike' Lee was the one who asked you to pass this information on, oh and tell Ratchet that she's fully healed from her ordeal...don't worry he'll know what you mean when you mention that name"

"Understood sensei...I won't be told what this is about unless it's needed will I?"

"Most likely not if the way they're training you is what I suspect it is"

"Slowly if I were being honest, they actually sent me to you for that exact reason, that and the fact that it was a security measure of some sort"

"I know exactly what security measure you're talking about, and as for the pace, that's for your own safety, Kerenai you are a child, someone who shouldn't have to live in the world that you do, even other children who have EDC officers as their parents aren't as protected as you have to be for your own safety, however I can't tell you exactly why your protection is so much higher besides who is actually raising you"

"You mean there's more to my needing protection than my actual family?"

"Yes, but since they are properly going slow for your own safety than I cannot tell you, but if you ask about the reasons than you can tell them I admitted that there was more to your protection than what you think"

That night Korra asked to meet with the three leaders and Ratchet in private

"What's wrong Korra?"

"Optimus, Rodimus, Galvatron, my sensei told me to tell you that someone named Carolyn 'Shadowstrike' Lee wants me to pass on and I quote 'I am hearing rumors of something major being planned against the EDC and as such I need you ready for such an event and able to properly protect yourself if it should ever come to it', Ratchet she asked me to pass on that the same person is fully healed from her ordeal, and that you would know what she meant by that"

"Yes, I know what your sensei was talking about, but how...oh...oh it's been so long and it's so good to hear from her"

"Indeed Ratchet, and by the way due to the situation that is now upon us I am lifting your restrictions in regards to taking care of Prowl"

"Good, because I think I finally have what I need to take care of his issue after his most recent episode since he was seen by First Aid who did the usual tests and then some just in case the normal tests have missed something"

"I'll just leave and do my homework since it seems like this is now leadership issues that need taken care of"

"Indeed, but Korra, there's going to have to be talks soon about what we're doing in regards to training"

"Okay...oh yeah one more thing, my sensei wants you guys to accelerate my training in regards to how to fight without my sense of sight or hearing, says that it will be important in the future that I know how to do so"

"We'll work on that starting tomorrow, what will your class be told once you actually start showing improvements?"

"I have no idea"

"Got it, now then we have adult things to talk about"

"Right, see you guys in the morning, I have homework"

The next day started Korra's intensive training to separately handle the loss of her sight and hearing, hoping to eventually teach her how to handle herself if she lost both senses either temporarily or permanently, they naturally focused on sight first since her sensei wanted to do so, they naturally started out with blindfolds but eventually they got to the point where they taught her how to deal with temporary blindness with pepper spray

"Now then if you ever become permanently blind than that's what happens but at least you will already know how to handle yourself. Starting next week even if your teacher hasn't gotten to this point we're going to teach you how to handle yourself if you ever lose your hearing, now then that lesson will probably go by faster but we're still going to be doing this at a safe pace"

"Okay, and by the way it has been noticed that my skills are further along than most of the class, fortunately it has been settled, but not by my sensei, did you know that the EDC has independently decided that all the children raised in this environment is getting training with the training robots?"

"No we were not aware of this, and how long has this policy been in place?"

"I have no idea, I found out through Captain Faireborn who was at class the other day"

"Then we'll call her and see what she was thinking and when she made this decision"

It would turn out that the policy had been in place for eight years and made after a really bad attack on an EDC base and all the kids were left in a vulnerable state, the reason the Cybertronians hadn't been informed was due to the agreements made beforehand in regards to what the Cybertronian leaders needed to be informed on in regards to the organization they helped found


	5. Chapter 5

"Thank you for letting us know Captain Faireborn, and don't worry we're keeping things pretty much the same but we now request that we're informed of any policy changes that involve the children of the EDC officers, just in case we have any ideas as well"

The phone call ends and Korra continues training, by the time she was six she could fight without her sight or her hearing, she also learned that by Cybertronian law she was only outranked by the Primes and Galvatron depending on the situation, though they also mentioned that it would probably never come up or if it did it would be a very rare occurrence, she also started military training since it had been discovered that she needed the training to continue learning how to control her abilities in different environments and situations. Korra was in class and her teacher having known that she was the only one trained to handle the loss of both senses (the rest of the class was just starting to learn how to handle the loss of their hearing due to complications learning how to fight without their sight) had decided to do a sudden test on Korra, though she didn't announce the test knowing that there were times when you simply weren't given any warnings

"Kerenai, earphones tonight"

"Understood sensei"

Korra put on the earphones and when it was her turn she started to fight when suddenly she received the signal to face her sensei, only her sensei wasn't getting her attention to say what she did wrong, instead she pepper sprayed Korra meaning that Korra now had to fight without her sight or hearing, and they were using the plastic knives that night so her opponent went for a kill, but then received a nasty shock in that Korra defended herself and managed to get the knife and point it at her opponent

"I slice your throat you're dead...sensei can I wash my eyes out now?"

"Yes you may, do you understand the point of the exercise?"

"Yes I do, but you're going to need to explain things to the rest of the class"

"I know, by the way this is a new version for testing by military police, I got special permission since they're thinking about allowing regular police officers have it and I am a designated tech tester, and that includes all non lethal and less than lethal weapons, as such..."

"As such if I have any complications over the next 48 to 96 hours I am to report them to you"

"I  _was_  going to say 48 to 72 hours, but that works too"

"I added the hours due to just how strong my eyes reacted, had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming out in pain"

"Gotcha, they'll be informed that it's a bit  _too_  strong already"

"Not if someone is immune or highly resistant to pain like I am"

"Oh...good point"

"Now then I'm going to do what you asked of me"

While Korra washed out her eyes the sensei explained that there were situations where one might temporarily or permanently lose their sight and hearing and that they were now going to be working towards the goal of fighting without either of those senses, and that Korra had learned due to her being an EDC kid, and an EDC kid who had recently joined confirmed that all EDC kids were taught how to fight in that exact situation

"Though she's learned faster than most since she seems to have an ability to pick up new skills relatively quickly"

"How's that possible?"

"It just is in regards to me, and besides there are some people who can learn something that I can't and other abilities that I will never have that they do, it's just something that's unique about me, everyone's unique ultimately"

"Kerenai's right, everyone is unique, you just have to learn what your talents are and work on improving them on a regular basis"

"Now then class is over for today, Korra remember..."

"I know the rules, and if I don't report it to you I  _will_  make sure that it's known in my own way"

"Understood, but first, do you have a ride?, because I am  _not_  letting you ride your bike back tonight"

"I have a ride, been that ways since this training started"

"Good"

Four days later Korra reported three different complications that weren't planned for to her sensei

"Sensei I have that report you needed"

"Okay what is it?"

"Light sensitivity is the first problem, I still can't be outside in the middle of the day, second problem was actually discovered within hours of class ending which is the fact that it causes temporary night blindness, so if it's used at night or a person is in a dark room there's a good chance of the person that was pepper sprayed panicking at the loss of one of their senses temporarily, the final complication is that due to the strength of the pepper spray if it gets on a person's clothes that area will get a rash from the irritant and with the way pepper spray works it's likely to get on someone's chest depending on their reaction to getting sprayed, other than that there are no complications that I or my medically trained family members can detect"

"Okay than, I'll let them know and they can go from there on deciding if it's going to be made available commercially or revamped so that those problems are resolved first"

"Good, now then I have doctors orders not to be pepper sprayed for another five days so I can only do training in regards to loss of hearing until then, doctors are just being careful considering what the pepper spray has done to my eyes, according to them even normal pepper spray could give me a set back"

"Don't worry on that end, today we're actually going to have different training than normal that doesn't involve what you'll do if you lose one or two senses that are important to fighting"

"Oh what training would that be?"

"Listen up and listen well class, there is still much for you to learn even if you eventually get black belts in this discipline, and tonight the lesson you are going to learn is an important lesson for all who learn the martial arts. Tonight you are going to learn how to honor and respect someone else's form of martial arts should you ever have to fight them, you will also naturally learn how to defend yourself against someone who uses a different discipline and are trying to actually hurt you, this is different from a tournament everyone, there you are trying  _not_  to permanently disable someone but in real life that might not be the case depending on several factors, as such you should pay close attention and heed the lesson I am trying to teach you"

Someone then comes out from behind the stage and bows and the sensei makes the introductions

"This is Mark Henderson, he's a Tae-Kwan-do master who I met two years ago at a mixed martial arts competition, and though we didn't face each other we did see each other fight"

"Now you know full well the only reason we didn't meet on the mats was because of the combination of your last opponent and your job, and besides we met on the mats at an exhibition fight five months later which made up for that incident"

"True enough, and we've become great friends since then, now if I recall correctly you won our last match which makes the score 7-6"

"Nope, don't forget that minor tournament three weeks ago"

"Oh yeah, that makes the score 8-6 then"

"Exactly, you're due a win at some point since we have mostly traded off the wins"

"Can't win them all"

"True enough, so...demonstration time?"

"Let's"

The two fought each other full out but eventually their sensei won the match, once it was called over the two bowed to each other, shook hands and then their sensei went to her knee and prodded Mark's ankle after insisting he sat down

"I know for a fact that you injured this ankle recently, how's it feeling when I manipulate it?"

"Fine, no pain and I was cleared by my doctor before practicing again by the way"

"You haven't done something like this since the injury either"

"It's...ow, ow, ow, ow...okay it's not so fine"

"I'm going to do that again Mark, brace yourself"

The sensei manipulates the ankle again and again Mark is in pain but this time they also all heard something crack, fortunately Mark was already sitting down

"I think you had a hidden fracture Mark, I'm calling an ambulance, either that or you are a walk-in for the hospital and I end this class early to take you there myself"

"Ride with you, but I will need support"

"But of course, class dismissed guys, I need to take Mark to the hospital to get checked out"

Korra brought out her cell phone and noticed a text message, one discrete phone call later and everyone could hear her sighing

"Can I come with sensei? I just called my family in relation to a text and I'm needed at the hospital for private reasons"

"Of course Kerenai, you have permission to ride with me?"

"Yes sensei I made sure to get that permission"

"Good"

Korra goes to the hospital and talks quietly with the nurse at the station to take in incoming patients. Three hours later she's in hospital gowns and hooked up to a blood transfusion machine. The reason was the text that she had received, her family had contacted her stating that the hospital wanted to do some tests on her due to her unique abilities, while there though it was discovered that she was able to safely donate blood once at the legal age, the problem was the fact that one of the tests had gone wrong shortly afterwords and she now needed three blood transfusions to help her body recover from shock due to blood loss that was sudden and unexpected

"Okay Korra, we're going to sign off on your release, you heal much faster than most people anyways and as such you don't need to be here any longer, though I do warn you to the fact that you might still feel a little weak for another few days and you probably won't completely replace your blood for three to five weeks, but otherwise you're good to go"

Korra leaves with family and continues school, being six she knew she had a long ways to go but her family was teaching her things that the school wouldn't have, mostly advanced reading, but also Spanish due to her wanting to communicate with a few EDC officers who spoke English as a second language that were working on the base. That's when they learn her ability to learn new skills fast wasn't limited to just physical skills but also a slight ability to learn languages fast as well, though they also knew she would be limited, but they asked her if she wanted to learn Canadian French after she learned Spanish so as to effectively communicate in their neighboring countries at need

"Sure, it makes sense really"

"Than that's what we'll do once you're declared fluent in Spanish we'll teach you Canadian French"

"Might take a year though"

"True, but you can do it, we believe in you Korra"

Korra soon mastered Spanish, sooner than she expected, but before she learned Canadian French her would be teacher was killed in a plane crash, it turned out that the cause behind the crash was a combination of really bad weather (hurricane force winds combined with a minor thunderstorm) and the fact that the plane itself was experiencing mechanical difficulties, most specifically the brakes were starting to fail and the engines were also being problematic, but the pilots were unaware of those issues since the crew before them hadn't reported the problems. During that time Korra started noticing something between Jazz and Mirage but wasn't sure what to do about it when a few days later Korra was just sitting down doing homework when suddenly Prowl and Mirage were in the room discussing minor human friendly things so Korra asked a question no one thought she would ever ask to get some answers

"Prowl, Mirage why is Jazz suddenly so protective in regards to which missions Mirage goes on?"

(Sighs) "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that"

"Agreed, that is something that we were hoping you wouldn't notice, than again his protectiveness is rarely used since the war ended"

"Well I noticed"

"Korra, before I tell you the story you have to understand that this was a really long time ago, when we were still at civil war with each other"

"I know"

"Okay then, now here's one more thing you have to understand, undercover missions are dangerous, but training helps mitigate said danger to a degree and we always have plans in case something goes wrong"

"Understood"

"Very well than, as you know we were in stasis for millions of your years and our war started long before we were in stasis so that's where we'll begin"

_Millions of years ago_

Mirage was in trouble and he knew it, he had just finished sabotaging an outpost when he was discovered, now then fortunately part of his orders had been to transmit data immediately so he had already done that, now he knew he would have to go down fighting taking down those he could before the bomb did the rest. And fight he did, but ultimately he would lose the fight and was caught in the explosion, however a few Decepticons had managed to escape the explosion and carried Mirage's unconscious body with them sensing that Mirage was actually in stasis. Back at Autobot headquarters they received word of the explosion

"Now all that's left is for Mirage to report back in, that ways we'll know the mission is truly successful"

"Agreed Jazz, though I do have to wonder why you insisted this information was transmitted immediately instead of having Mirage wait until he got back"

"I have my reasons Prowl, reasons that apply specifically to Spec Ops training"

"Understood"

An hour later though they received word of Mirage's death because the Decepticons had been smart, they had left just enough of Mirage's destroyed armor (false armor designed for the mission to help him blend in, though neither side had been aware of that since Mirage had kept that a secret to everyone) to be identified by the Autobots who had seen the explosion and checked it out. When Jazz initially heard the reports he didn't believe it until twelve hours later when the armor was received at base and taken to Ratchet for analysis

"I'm sorry Jazz, but it really was Mirage"

"Understood"

Ratchet winced at the sudden flat tone Jazz' voice took knowing it preceded very dangerous Ops thinking and missions, because while he wasn't necessarily suicidal when having lost an operative Jazz took each loss personally and took the missions he felt were the most dangerous himself for a time. After Mirage's death had been confirmed Jazz requested some personal time off and it was granted, Jazz went to where Mirage had been lost and did his personal ceremony honoring the loss of his agent

"I swear you will be avenged Mirage, may not be immediately, and may not be on a mission but you will be avenged, if it happens in battle so be it"

Jazz cuts his hand to finish his ceremony and then goes back to base. Meanwhile Mirage was in a Decepticon brig and was in stasis, he would remain in stasis for a solid month with his mind never giving up his secrets. Starting in the second month he was awake very briefly to start out and then that period got longer as he continued to heal, always stating that rescue was coming. One day he heard the signs of battle and it being a good day looked up long enough to see Autobot symbols on the people at his cell

"Quickstrike was right, there is an Autobot prisoner here"

"Told...them...rescue...was...coming...never...broke...Autobot...Mirage...at...your...service"

Mirage fell back into stasis after that having already expended what energy he could afford at the moment giving his designation

"It can't be Mirage...Mirage...Mirage died"

"We take him to Ratchet, he'll figure things out, but in the meantime...meantime we presume he's really Autobot Mirage and get him back to base"

Getting Mirage out was a job in and of itself but finally they succeeded in getting Mirage out of his prison and several hours later into Ratchet's medbay. Ratchet himself could hardly believe that Mirage was alive, but several hours and tests later Ratchet could no longer deny that it really was Mirage he was working on. Ratchet didn't tell anyone though due to the fact that Mirage was in critical condition, and the rescue team including Ironhide was sworn to secrecy until Ratchet informed Jazz and Optimus. That would take another three days, but finally, finally Mirage was no longer in critical condition and he commed both Jazz and Optimus at the same time

::Optimus, Jazz, I need both of you in my medbay immediately::

Both acknowledged him and came down

"What's wrong Ratchet?"

"Follow me, but be quiet"

Ratchet leads them to a private area of the medbay and shows them Mirage who was now in medical stasis healing from everything Ratchet had needed to do to get him to his stable condition

"Impossible, Mirage was lost to us three months ago"

"I thought so too Jazz, but it's really him, I did the tests myself"

"Ratchet is correct Jazz, now then we will have to wait until he wakes up for answers but it is good to have him returned to us, when can we make the announcement Ratchet?"

"Not for a while yet, he's going to be in stasis for at least another three days, only then will I release stasis, and even then I don't want any announcements until he wakes up and is actually coherent"

"Understood Ratchet"

True to his word Ratchet released Mirage from medical stasis three days later but Mirage didn't wake up immediately, not that Ratchet was worried considering everything that Mirage had gone through for three months. Two weeks after medical stasis was released though Ratchet started getting concerned seeing as how the repairs had fully integrated by that point. Jazz was Mirage's only visitor due to the secrecy surrounding Mirage's survival and at that point Jazz felt that an important question needed asked

"How much longer will he stay like this Ratchet?"

"I honestly don't know Jazz, however the longer he stays in stasis the more likely it is he will have permanent processor damage or we will lose him, either way once I know for sure how that will go I will allow Prime to make the announcement"

"Understood Ratchet, understood"

Later that day Ratchet was doing his regular checks on Mirage when suddenly Mirage came back online

"Ratchet?...how long...have I...been gone?"

"Three months Mirage, now then I want you to stay awake to answer some questions"

"Sorry...tired"

Mirage went right back to sleep, but hearing Mirage for the first time since having finished his repairs improved his mood very slightly. Two days later Mirage was able to stay awake for longer than five minutes and was declared healed enough to leave the medbay. When Optimus received that report from Ratchet he sent out a base wide alert of the fact that Mirage was alive and had been rescued from a Decepticon facility three months after his supposed death. Mirage took a little longer to recover enough strength to make sure that the job was properly finished, but he succeeded and was soon back to normal, though Jazz was much more protective initially

_Present_

"And that's basically the story Korra, Jazz eventually let me back on full duty without becoming overprotective, but there are times when that pops up again, mainly after something major happens to an agent, or even to me even if it's something really minor"

"I understand, and sorry for having to make you relive that"

"It's okay, I don't really remember those three months anyways"

"What I'm wondering is what triggered it this time"

"Who knows because all I've been doing lately is...and I just realized the problem" (sighs) "best sort this out now before the issue gets any bigger"

Mirage leaves and talks to Jazz, it turned out that Mirage was bringing out Jazz's protective side due to the fact that lately Mirage had been doing charity races and training some EDC officers in the finer points of stealth with the approval of Galvatron, the problem was neither of them thought to inform Jazz about those actions and while the Primes had figured it out on their own they thought Jazz was aware so they also didn't tell Jazz what Mirage was doing. Soon enough Korra was seven and had noticed a pattern over the past few months, that pattern was that seven members of her family always seemed to know when something happened to one or more of the small group, once during battle she was with Prowl in the command center (the safest place at the time due to where the other safe rooms were located) when suddenly he told Ratchet who was also there that Bluestreak, the twins and Jazz were all injured to varying degrees, when asked for clarification Prowl said that Jazz was the most critical with Bluestreak second, the twins were the least critical of the group. After the battle she learned that Jazz had been hit in the chest very close to his spark and was only alive due to the ministrations of the twins (also the bond she was currently unaware of). Bluestreak had been hit in his doorwings and was missing a leg while the twins had minor burns on their backs and arms, with Sideswipe also having a wrenched shoulder. Ratchet was in surgery for sixteen hours straight to save Jazz, but fortunately he was able to inform everyone that Jazz would make a full recovery given time, time they had since the civil war had ended years earlier. Korra had also noticed that they were always aware of each others location no matter what, and that they sometimes passed out due to that knowledge and finally decided to get answers one day and simply went for it when no one was distracted


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey guys I have a question"

"What is it Korra?"

"How is it that seven family members can instantly know when something is wrong with one or more of them? And are also able to find one another no matter how hard they or the enemy tries to hide them, like that incident only three months ago?"

(Sighs) "we were wondering when you would ask that question...what do you know about Cybertronian bonds?"

"Not much admittedly, even though I've lived with you guys my whole life I'm only seven and you've kept things like this from me deeming me not old enough"

"Good point" (sighs) "OK first thing you have to understand is that there are three types of bonds, twin bonds, family bonds and marriage bonds, twin bonds are between siblings created at the same time, family bonds are between members of immediate family, father, mother and siblings both older and younger, though they can also be between Cybertronians who choose to be a family, which I will get into in a moment, marriage bonds are basically what it says a bond between a male and female who decide to become what you call husband and wife. Now then as I said family bonds can actually be formed by Cybertronians who decide that they want to be family, but that is very rare and is typically done by close friends who feel like they are brother or sister to one another. Now then with all three types of bonds one can know that the others involved in the bond are alive, their general state of being and sometimes, if they are close enough can communicate with each other through said bond which is a much more secure method than commlinks"

"Don't forget that they are also great locator beacons at need First Aid, how else do you think we found you after that one incident"

"How come I wasn't aware of that?"

"You don't really need it and it's subconscious for the most part so it's not noticeable unless you concentrate"

"Oh, okay, well anyways as I was saying communicating is also possible and secure, now then as you know thanks to a virus during a war against the Quintessons the Decepticons started a civil war through no fault of their own, and as such we Autobots had to fight back, now then this story takes place a few months after the destruction of Praxus which was the home of Prowl, Bluestreak and Smokescreen"

_Millions of years ago_

Optimus was doing paperwork when suddenly Ratchet barges into his office

"Can I help you Ratchet?"

"We have a problem Optimus"

"What is it?"

"Two officers and five soldiers all have interlinked family bonds, two of them are understandable seeing as how they're twins but not the others"

"How do you know this?"

"Just finished my routine medical checks and noticed something odd so I checked all seven of them against each other and that's how I discovered it, as the medical center isn't as secure as your office I wanted to confront them here with you also being here as a way for them to know that I'm serious"

"Understood, call them"

Twenty minutes later all seven of them were in the Prime's office and Prowl was the one to speak up

"You called us here Ratchet?"

"Yes, Prime is backing me up, I need to know why all of you have interlinked family bonds that are only just now being discovered"

They all look at each other and finally Jazz sighs and nods his head which they all understood meant that he would be the one explaining things

"Remember the mission just after Praxus?"

"Yes, I was highly against Prowl, Bluestreak and Smokescreen going since they were still mourning the loss of their home but was overruled by Optimus here because he needed your three skills"

"Unfortunately that's where things begin, you see the Decepticons were looking for survivors and discovered those three and took them captive, I was on my way back to Iacon when I came across the twins doing their best to get killed trying to save those three, as such I intervened and started making plans to free the three Praxians with their help, unfortunately I was unaware of an attack at a nearby base which had Red Alert captured, it took three days to get inside and that's when we discovered the four of them in serious condition and I knew we needed a solution to get them to safety, so I faked an alarm stating that the base was self destructing and got them out under the cover of the alarm. That didn't mean that they were out of the woods but at least they were out of Decepticon hands, once we were in a safe location I started emergency treatment while giving directions to Sideswipe and Sunstreaker so that they could take care of two others that I wasn't working on when suddenly Sunstreaker stated that Red Alert, who hadn't looked that bad and thus I thought could wait was suddenly going critical and that's when I made the desperate solution to bond with him to keep him stable while I worked on Prowl, while that was going on suddenly Smokescreen went critical and Sideswipe followed my lead with bonding to him, that stabilized those two while we worked on Prowl and Bluestreak, once those two were fixed as much as possible we started repairs on Smokescreen and Red Alert and then waited for rescue. While waiting Prowl and Bluestreak destabilized and so Sunstreaker bonded to Bluestreak while I bonded to Prowl. Once back in Iacon and fully repaired the seven of us talked about what had happened and how the bond was basically one sided, not mutual and basically wrong to have happened, as such the three of us who initiated the bonds offered to break said bonds willingly since they weren't so strong as to cause permanent damage from breaking, instead the four we rescued through the bonds actually decided that they didn't mind and wanted it fully mutual and so we all agreed to make it so. Remember how we put in for emergency leave shortly after they were medically cleared? That's when we solidified the bond between the seven of us, as for how we kept it hidden until now that's thanks to the twins actually, see they realized that if the bonds were discovered it could be used against us by the Decepticons so they trained us on how to hide the bonds as much as possible, even from a medical scan, now then twin bonds can never be hidden but family bonds can be if careful enough so they simply worked on hiding their bonds with the rest of us while we worked on simply hiding the bonds for all of us. However things are getting worse and so we realized that it was time to stop hiding the bonds in case something happens to one or more of us, that ways you'll understand how we know what's happening to each other and how we can find one another so easily, however we do appreciate it if you wouldn't spread this around unless it's need to know, we'll let the others know on our terms"

"Very well, that's acceptable, however I want Ratchet to thoroughly check you out now that the bonds are no longer hidden from us after every mission, especially if one of you gets hurt"

"Understood sir"

_Present_

"And that's basically the story behind their bonds with each other"

"Is that also why they sometimes put their hands to their chests whenever something happens or even why they sometimes pass out for no explained reason?"

"That's exactly it, but the extreme reaction only ever happens if they have the bonds fully open for whatever reason"

"Okay, and don't worry I know to keep the bond a secret"

"We know, by the way we found you a teacher for Canadian French that lives on base"

"Why didn't you tell me this before the last one was killed in the crash?"

"Because they only just arrived three days ago Korra, they're an EDC officer who lived in Canada their whole life before joining the EDC, they heard about you and asked us if they could be your teacher"

"How did they find out about me?"

"Captain Faireborn during first day orientation, they had seen you and so Marissa explained that you lived on base and were under their protection, they asked basic questions like what security measures were in place for your safety and if the rest of the base knew to speak English around you, that's when Marissa mentioned you deciding on your own to learn Spanish to speak with a few EDC officers in their native language and how you also wanted to learn Canadian French. When the officer heard that they volunteered to teach you their language"

"When do lessons start?"

"Not until the weekend and even then they themselves have placed rules that you are going to learn come Saturday"

"Okay, well I have shooting practice to go to now"

"Right, forgot that Ironhide and Barricade cornered the Primes and Galvatron daily until the three gave in to their demands to teach you how to shoot"

"Well I can already fight hand to hand, might as well also know how to shoot if I have to"

"Point, just wish you didn't have to learn so many skills at such a young age"

"At least they waited until I was seven to get me trying to shoot"

"Uh...Korra...they've been going at it since you were five and starting to learn self defense"

"Oh...the Primes and Galvatron decided seven was old enough then"

"Yep, and...there's the possibility of you getting military training soon as well, but we're not sure about that part yet"

"Understood"

That Saturday Korra met her new Canadian French instructor and learned that if she ever got below a B in classes her lessons would stop until her grades went back up since the officer wanted Korra to focus on school instead of learning a new language, plus she would be limited to four hours of learning the language split between Saturday and Sunday. They started that day but the officer got a phone call and kept Korra late, she didn't learn any more after the four hours were up but that didn't mean the officer had nothing for Korra to keep occupied by, there were books and games to play and play she did. Once she was home she discovered that Barricade had been captured and a search was now on to find him, it would take five months before he was found though, and during that time he would undergo a major change due to being experimented on and tortured

_Month one_

"So we need to start looking on Earth and expand from there"

"Agreed"

_Month two_

They didn't find Barricade on Earth so they searched the solar system around Earth and failed to find him, they also checked Cybertron and it's space but failed as well

_Month three_

"Korra, your teacher in Canadian French said that you yourself suspended lessons temporarily, what for?"

"I'm too distracted by Barricade's situation to properly focus on my lessons, I'm giving myself a month to see if it improves, besides they might be needed soon for the search themselves"

"You have a point, but if by the time the month passes things haven't changed in regards to the location of your teacher and you feel you can focus again you start the lessons back up"

"Don't worry I will"

_Month four_

They finally had a lead on Barricade's captors and searched the entire system that they had last been reported in, unfortunately they missed them by only a week, but it was something, plus a few people had actually managed to get a glimpse of Barricade at one point due to an escape attempt that was successful temporarily, of course no one knew Barricade was trying to kill himself after a successful escape attempt but that was due to how quickly he was recaptured

"At least we know he's still alive"

"True but the condition they reported him in..."

"I know...I know"

_Month five_

They get back on the trail of the enemy and finally, just finally catch up to said enemy, and Korra's teacher in Canadian French had indeed been called into the search and was there they day they caught up and scouted ahead being undetected due to their size

"I found him, he's in bad shape though from what I could tell and it also looks like they could move their operations at any time"

"Than we rescue him...tonight"

"Works for me"

And so that night they storm the compound and rescue Barricade with a mild fight from Barricade himself who didn't initially recognize his saviors due to energy depletion

_Meanwhile with Barricade's side of the story_

Barricade was  _not_  happy, he had been experimented on repeatedly between torture sessions and was starting to lose hope of rescue. He had gotten to the point of wanting to die but wasn't allowed to, though he gave a good effort to kill himself a few times so that the enemy wouldn't gain an advantage against his family because of him, but they brought him back from the brink every time. One day he was simply waiting for the next round of torture or experimenting when his captor came in

"We have something new to try, however we need you unconscious for this, how long that will be we don't know, but don't worry you'll wake up after we get our results"

Barricade fights the sedative for as long as he could but eventually succumbs to it. Some time later he finally wakes up and hears something he wished he never had

"The experiment was a success, you'll find out what it was soon enough slave, but for now you will have to wonder what we've done"

"I'll get you for this, I swear I'll get you for this"

"No...you won't, you'll be in no condition to do anything to us soon enough"

Barricade wonders what they mean for two weeks when finally after months of being prisoner (all he knew was an estimated amount of time since they took out his ability to tell time precisely) he was rescued. Seven hours later he was with Ratchet and that's when he discovers what was done to him

"Barricade...Barricade I don't know how to tell you this, or even how this came to be but...you're...you're sparked Barricade"

"I'm...what?..."

"Sparked"

"Ratchet...what are you saying? I still don't understand"

"You're carrying Barricade...you're going to have a sparkling...basically you're what the humans call pregnant"

"But...but how...I can't have...my captors...when I get my hands on them..."

"Barricade stop!"

Barricade stops moving and growling at the tone of Ratchet's voice

"Your emotions won't do the sparkling any good, yes it is most likely that your captors were the one's who did this to you, how that's possible I don't know, but I will find out and figure out a way to reverse the process once the sparkling is born"

"I...I know how it's possible Ratchet, they've been using me for experiments since I was captured, the last experiment they did they had me unconscious, that experiment must have been the one to manage my new...condition"

"Barricade...there's a few things you also need to know, the experiments mean that your...pregnancy for lack of a better word, is going to be like human females, it will last about nine months and you will give birth just like human females...now then you have a few options since it's in the early stages yet, you can...terminate the sparkling now before a bond truly happens, you can carry to full term assuming your body doesn't naturally abort the sparkling and assign them adoptive creators, or you can keep the sparkling and raise it yourself. With any of these choices you should know that the Primes and Galvatron need to be informed of both your condition and the decision you have made concerning said condition"

"Can I...can I have some time to think about this?"

"Yes...but there will come a time when terminating the sparkling is more dangerous than keeping it minus a...miscarriage I believe the word is"

"I...understand...can you call the Primes and Galvatron now?"

"Sure...do you want to tell them or should I?"

"You...I...I can't process this right now in regards to telling them"

"I understand, you'll be staying here a few more days by the way, not only so that I can keep an eye on your condition but also there's some repairs which are delicate enough to need constant monitoring for a few days"

"I...understand"

Ten minutes later the three leaders were in the medbay being informed of the situation in regards to Barricade, naturally they were shocked but understood why Barricade needed time to think. A few days later shortly before he was released Barricade informed Ratchet and the three leaders that he was going to keep the sparkling to term and then raise it himself with the help of the rest of the base

"Understood Barricade, effectively immediately you will be put on light duty until the sparkling is born and then given leave for two months to start settling into a routine"

"Thanks Rodimus"

"Well everyone we're in for a long nine months...Barricade do you want the rest of the base to know about your condition?"

"Yes...it's better that ways, especially once I start showing that I am pregnant"

"Understood"

The base once informed of Barricade's condition were also naturally shocked, and then really angry at his captors with most of them wanting revenge, which they were not allowed to get. And just as Ratchet predicted they were indeed in for a long nine months, the first month alone explaining how this happened to the human EDC officers constantly until it finally clicked that this wasn't natural for their Cybertronian counterparts and only happened due to sick scientists that had captured Barricade in the first place


	7. Chapter 7

_Month two_

Barricade was doing some desk work when all of a sudden he felt sick and threw up his morning Energon into the trash bin right next to his desk and as such he decided to comm Ratchet just in case something was seriously wrong with him or the sparkling

::Ratchet...am I supposed to be bringing up my morning Energon?::

::Congratulations, you have what humans call morning sickness, it happens to most human females though some never experience the symptom, this should pass by the fourth month of your pregnancy, though it doesn't always according to my research, I'll see what we can do to help you keep your Energon down, though it might be that you'll simply have to take in smaller amounts over the day to compensate, but we'll see what works and what doesn't::

That wasn't the only thing that happened during the second month, everyone started to notice that Barricade was...off somehow but they weren't exactly sure how yet, but they knew they would find out soon enough

_Month three_

Fortunately Ratchet found a solution where Barricade could have his normal Energon rations and not be quite as sick as initially. They also learned the meaning of the words mood swings and cravings in the third month which was what was starting in the second month but hadn't fully appeared until the third month of pregnancy. They found this out the hard way one day when Bluestreak asked him to sign basic paperwork for the second time that week that really needed his signature since it was a supply requisition form

"I said no! I don't want this stupid paperwork and if you ask me again I will knock you senseless!"

Five minutes later he was apologizing to Bluestreak and then asking for something sweet. He was also starting to show his pregnancy through a slight baby bump, which wasn't normal in a Cybertronian pregnancy

_Month four_

Ratchet had finally been forced to bring in human co-workers to help him handle Barricade's pregnancy since it was more human than Cybertronian and that meant that he was completely out of his element

"Ratchet...are the human doctors really necessary?"

"Unfortunately for your health and the health of your sparkling they are, I am out of my depth Barricade, normally a Cybertronian female wouldn't be showing their pregnancy except through their energy field, plus they're much shorter than human pregnancies, if you were female you would be having your sparkling by the end of the month by opening your chest plate and the sparkling separating from your spark pain free and being put into a protoform, unfortunately due to the materials we've both read" (as soon as Barricade confirmed he was keeping the sparkling Ratchet demanded he and Barricade read up everything on human pregnancy's and made sure that Barricade followed through. Barricade wasn't too thrilled to learn that the actual birth was going to be painful unless he miscarried his sparkling, even with drugs to help) "I need help with your condition since this could be as unpredictable as a human pregnancy could be"

"Fine I just...I just don't feel comfortable with it even knowing that they're our allies"

"I know, but unfortunately this is the safest option for you and your sparkling"

"I understand, at least they're under doctor/patient confidentiality still"

"True, we made sure of that a long time ago when we first came to Earth"

"So when do I meet them?"

"Next appointment, and by the way it's more obvious that you're pregnant"

"I thought as much"

Because Barricade was indeed starting to show more in regards to his pregnancy, he was also starting to get tired occasionally and he knew that the exhaustion would only get worse as the pregnancy progressed

"They're also going to be bringing in some of their own equipment that I have never used before, according to them it's needed since my energy scans only tell me if the sparkling is still there and they feel that's not enough...they've made sure it's Cybertronian sized since according to them they've wanted us to have this piece of equipment for ages but have never given it to us due to lack of need. They apparently test it regularly so they know that it works perfectly"

"When's the appointment?"

"Next week, they want to get it in as early as possible to detect problems as soon as possible"

"Understood"

Next week Barricade was back in medbay and saw a big machine that he was uncertain what it's use was for, and Ratchet was just as confused by his facial expression. The human doctor's took one look at Barricade, shrugged and then asked him to lie down on his back

"Why are you taking this so calmly?"

"We heard one of you had been captured and experimented on but were never informed of who, due to our long association with your people and the EDC we have gotten slightly used to the unusual, now then this will probably feel a little weird but everything is safe, we use this on our human patients all the time, Ratchet take the bottle next to you and squeeze it's contents onto the device connected to the monitor with a wire, use only enough to cover the device, if more is needed than squeeze the exact same amount again, but it shouldn't be needed we don't think, once that's done put it onto Barricade's...um baby bump since I can't tell if that's his chest or his abdomen"

Ratchet squeezes the bottle onto the part of the device as instructed but immediately stops before he goes any further

"What is this?"

"That is gel, it will allow the device to move around easily and smoothly without harming his body, don't worry we've made sure that the gel is harmless to Cybertronians"

Ratchet looks dubious but does as instructed and as one since Barricade was looking at the monitor as well both Ratchet and Barricade gasp in shock, but Barricade is the one to speak up

"Is that...is that my sparkling?"

"Indeed it is Barricade, now then from what we can tell everything seems to be developing normally, though we're not entirely sure with Cybertronian pregnancies if this is the same, but from a human standpoint everything is good so far, too early to tell if it's male or female for a human, but as far as I understand you guys don't know until the sparkling is in it's protoform what it's going to be"

"Actually the sparkling gives off it's own energy field and I can already tell it's a male, found that out last week but since we weren't sure about what this equipment does we both agreed that I wouldn't tell him until today"

"Ah, that's good to know in case this happens again to another Cybertronian"

"So once a month we'll do this scan then?"

"Sonogram Ratchet, and actually...for the first month we'd like weekly Sonograms and then bi-weekly after that, but that's up to Barricade"

"I think...I think I would like to go with that plan since this is all new to us"

"Very well, we'll see you next week then"

_Month five_

Things progressed smoothly that month, the weekly Sonogram showed the sparkling developing into a healthy baby with no complications and Barricade was doing fine as well with Energon intake and his bump was slowly getting to the point where he would need a new desk soon

"Well, looks like we can go to bi-weekly Sonograms unless a problem develops"

"How am I personally progressing?"

"You're doing good Barricade, though I do admit that I would like to see you on supplements soon"

"What for?"

"You're getting tired way too easily according to Ratchet, normally a human female would be tired near the end of the pregnancy and also the beginning, but five months...that's a bit unusual unless you're not getting enough rest or nutrients, it does happen sometimes, but the baby is fine and past the point of there being twins unless one is hiding"

"Okay, so two weeks from now?"

"Two weeks from now"

_Month six_

Things were going okay when suddenly before the next Sonogram appointment there was an emergency with Barricade. He was simply in the rec room watching TV and drinking his Energon when suddenly he felt a sharp pain in the area where he was carrying the sparkling

"Guys...help...hurts..."

Jazz and Prowl rush Barricade to the medbay where Ratchet's equipment gave off all sorts of crazy readings, fortunately he managed to help Barricade through the incident with drugs which knocked him out cold for seventeen hours. When he came to he had a worried medic by his bedside

"Barricade, I think we need to make an emergency appointment with the Sonogram, I need to check on the sparkling, the readings I'm getting are...confusing to say the least"

"Do it, I need to know for sure myself, I...I don't have a bond with my sparkling Ratchet, I don't know if it's okay or not, if I still have a sparkling"

The next day the doctors came in and the Sonogram showed that the sparkling was still there and healthy

(Sighs) "I need to know two things, what was the pain like and how do Cybertronian pregnancies normally work?"

"The pain was sharp, sudden, but with the help of Ratchet's drugs before I went to sleep I noticed that things were settled and the pain was no longer there, there's also a bond with the sparkling while it's still inside the carrier, it develops near the end of the carrying period, what you would call the pregnancy, but I still haven't felt the bond develop"

"It could be that it won't until near the end of this pregnancy" (sighs) "in the meantime I need to explain something about human pregnancies I'm not sure you actually read on since you might have felt it was unnecessary data, there's two conditions you need to be aware of, one is called a stillbirth where the baby is born already dead, normally there's nothing on the parents side that caused it, it just happens, the other is early contractions which lead to a premature baby if not stopped in time because the baby is born months early, it's called premature labor. What happened to you was the beginning stages of that exact scenario of premature labor. Now then Ratchet stopped it in time and your baby is healthy, however just like with human pregnancies I'm afraid that you're going on complete bed rest effective immediately if you want to keep your sparkling, we may lessen the restriction as time passes after this incident but more than likely not, the only moving you'll be doing is taking care of bodily functions, bathing and eating"

"Barricade for your safety and the safety of the sparkling, until told otherwise I am keeping you in the medbay while you're on complete bed rest so that I can continuously monitor your condition, this might not be the case with human medicine but..."

"I understand Ratchet, this scared me too"

_Month seven_

Barricade was still stuck in the medbay and bored

"Hey, so you're still on complete bed rest?"

"Yep, the humans are coming tomorrow and reevaluating, after the scare we had I'm back to weekly appointments, but in the meantime...I'm bored Jazz give me something to do"

"Sorry Barricade, no work Ratchet's orders and they're backed up by the Primes and Galvatron"

"I know I'm not allowed to work but...if you could find books, movies, shows or games I haven't read, done or seen that would be nice, as it is..."

Barricade stops and Jazz got worried when he didn't continue after a moment

"Barricade?"

"Jazz...feel...they're kicking...and...and I have a bond...oh I can feel my sparkling through a bond"

The human doctors are informed of both pieces of information the next day before the Sonogram is even done

"That's unusual, normally they would have been kicking at least two months ago, guess development is a bit different, as for the bond that's wonderful news Barricade, we could definitely use that in the future to know if the sparkling is still alright if another incident like last month happens"

Once the Sonogram is done the doctors consult with Ratchet briefly and then they go back out to Barricade

"Okay, we're lifting the complete bed rest restriction Barricade,  _but_  you're still on weekly appointments for everyone's safety, and we have to warn you that if you almost gave birth prematurely once there's a chance that it could happen again and next time might not be stopped so start expecting your little one and make whatever preparations are needed still in overdrive"

"Don't worry everything is basically ready now, all that we're waiting for is the little one to emerge and some slight modifications are still needed to my quarters, mostly Energon for the sparkling, some toys and apparently a crib...something about the one already being put together used for something else instead by Wheeljack accidentally"

"Oh I know what happened to that one, Wheeljack decided that the crib needed 'upgrades' without telling anyone and melted the thing, he's been told that if he tries anything on this one that he's mine after Prowl gets through with him"

_Month eight_

Wheeljack apologized and made sure to leave the new crib alone...not that he could actually gain access to it with it locked in Barricade's quarters under a bio-lock with only the Primes, Galvatron, Ratchet and Prowl having an override. Barricade himself was back in medbay until his sparkling was delivered because the supplements just weren't cutting it anymore and he needed to be monitored to make sure his energy levels were stable after he collapsed once in the rec room due to low energy right after taking in his daily Energon

"So...stuck in here until the birth than?"

"Yes, it's the only way to keep both of us safe"

"Well the good news is that everything seems fine and except for your energy issues you should have a normal ending to the carrying period, by the end of next month your sparkling will be born. Now then we have to ask if you want a natural birth or with drugs, I have to warn you even with drugs it will hurt, but not as badly as without"

"About that...Ratchet has banned me from taking any drugs during the birth"

"Ratchet..."

"Sorry, originally I was all for drugging him up, but I did some tests and the drugs needed are too dangerous for him to have, it's going to have to be a natural birth the entire time"

"Fine, but if he needs an emergency c-section all bets are off and you're just going to have to do your best to keep him and the sparkling alive"

"I know, we both know that, we've discussed the possibility of that exact scenario a few times in between appointments"

"Good, at least you're aware of the possibilities"

"So...I get to meet my little one next month"

"Yes...next month"

_Month nine_

Barricade was trying to get some sleep and not succeeding, having been uncomfortable all day, Ratchet and First Aid had both asked him if anything was wrong and he had said that he was simply unable to get into a comfortable position that day, since that had happened several times the last few weeks none of them had thought anything of it, until while he was taking a shower to cool down due to feeling overheated he felt a sharp pain once again, but this time it was accompanied by a gush of liquid going down his legs

"RATCHET!"

Ratchet, who was in the medbay constantly now for Barricade's sake was immediately by his side

"What's wrong Barricade?"

"It's time...the sparkling...it's coming"

"Okay...okay let's just get you lying down while I call the humans over here, fortunately they've been on emergency standby since the beginning of the month"

Fifteen minutes later the human medics were there and confirmed that Barricade was definitely in labor

"Now then, this could be a while, but at the same time maybe not, have you been feeling anything odd today Barricade?"

"Just unable to get comfortable, but since that has been happening the last few weeks none of us thought anything of it"

"Okay, you basically went through the early stages of labor without noticing it, but it could still take some time, let's see how dilated you are and go from there"

Barricade unfortunately wasn't dilated enough

"So far it's going slowly but steadily, you're going to be on monitors for safety and we're going to check through a Sonogram"

Two hours later he wasn't dilated enough and in fact hadn't made any progress, unfortunately he was also starting to actually be in pain

"Okay, this is how things will go, unless you tell us otherwise we're going to check on you every two hours for the first three checks, than we'll go every hour until it's time for you to push, in the meantime we'll also do Sonogram checks just to make sure that the sparkling is in the correct position to be born, so that's what we'll do now"

They do a Sonogram check and see that the sparkling's position was correct

"Okay, while it may not be time the sparkling is in the correct position once you're ready to push"

"Ratchet are you sure that you can't give me anything?"

"Sorry Barricade, it really is too dangerous for you"

"It hurts Ratchet"

"I know, I'll be keeping an eye on you, don't forget we've discussed giving you the medicine if it becomes an emergency, but only then for both your safety and the safety of the sparkling, I don't want to do an emergency c-section if I don't have to, right now besides the pain you and the sparkling are doing fine I promise"

"Oh...I wish this could just be over with by now...this is really starting to hurt...oh man...do they have to take so long to arrive?"

The next three checks remain the same and by that time Barricade was in so much pain that he was starting to shout profanity against the enemy that had captured him, it was mostly in Cybertronian but a few times it was in English which meant that the human team also understood

"Okay, it's been six hours and not much progress, however things are still okay so we won't intervene with the body, but due to the unusual nature of what's happening what we've decided is that if the sparkling hasn't come by the end of thirty-six hours than we'll do a c-section, if you or the sparkling suddenly show distress before that we'll also do a c-section"

"Ratchet...it hurts...so much...I just...want this...to be...over with..."

"I know, I know, there might be something I can give you to allow you some rest while we wait okay?"

"Thanks...I would...appreciate that...a lot"

Ratchet gives him the medication and he's watched the entire hour for sudden complications, once the hourly check is done the medics all retreat to Ratchet's office to discuss things

"Ratchet, we're concerned about his emotional condition, he may have taken to this surprise exceedingly well but pain will affect his emotions, the fact that you can't give him anything is worrying because pain itself can induce stress to the pregnancy, in humans that is potentially quite dangerous"

"I know, but all we can do is keep an eye on them, I truly wish I could actually give him something but unfortunately I can't"

"We know"

The pattern of hourly checks with no progress would continue for another seventeen hours when finally progress was made once more, by that time Barricade was awake and in even more pain, but stable so the medics were all reluctant to do anything that could endanger their patients. Barricade though made a declaration that wasn't fully dismissed, but also wasn't fully understood as the warning sign it was in regards to Barricade's health

"Ratchet...I'm so...tired...don't know...how much...longer I...can take...my condition...feeling weaker...every hour"

"I know...I know...guys I think he's reaching his limit"

"We know Ratchet, however his body isn't giving any further indications that he's actually ready to deliver his sparkling. All we can really say is that we'll up the checks to every half hour and also start keeping a closer eye on the monitors for distress, even human females get extremely exhausted as labor continues, however there's a very thin line between not intervening enough and too much intervention at this stage of the labor and we don't want to do anything that risks either patient"

"Can you...at least...find something...for the...pain?"

"Sorry Barricade, while you were asleep I did exactly that and there's nothing, and I can't give you anything for sleep since it's too soon"

"Understood...hope this...ends soon...so tired...need rest"

"We know Barricade, we know, the good news is that you've dilated a half a centimeter, which is progress, slow progress but progress, hopefully it shouldn't be much longer now"

When Barricade speaks up again, his voice is barely a whisper forcing Ratchet to be close for the conversation, which naturally also meant the conversation would be quiet and not heard by Ratchet's human colleagues

"Ratchet?"

"Yes Barricade?"

"If...I don't...make it...make sure...that...my little...one is...cared for"

"Don't talk like that Barricade...you'll be fine I promise"

" _Promise_...please...feeling...so weak...not...normal...exhaustion"

"Yes it is...I promise it's normal Barricade...I deliberately kept you from the amount of research I did, you're most likely in what's called protracted labor...it happens and as labor continues human females tend to get more exhausted, you're almost there Barricade, as far as I know you're near the halfway point...just a little longer and you'll be holding your little one in your arms"

"Ratchet...just...promise...please...need...to...know that...they'll be...cared for...if I...die"

"Okay...Okay Barricade I promise, your little one will be cared for if anything happens to you"

"Thank...you"

Barricade would remain quiet except for his exclamations of pain on occasion and when he had to take care of personal business for the rest of the time that he was waiting for the signals that would mean that his body was finally ready to deliver the sparkling. At the thirty hour mark the check revealed that he was finally dilated enough to actually give birth, by which point the medics were extremely relieved because they were getting close to telling Ratchet that they were going to push the timetable up by three hours since they had noticed that Barricade and the sparkling were actually starting to show signs that the protracted labor was beginning to stress them, it wasn't at the dangerous levels but it was getting close enough for them to make the call that if he remained stable they would deliver the sparkling via c-section in three hours

"Okay, Barricade you're going to feel pressure and like you need to push, once that feeling arrives I want you to push as hard as you can with me counting back from ten"

"I need to push"

"Okay...ten..nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...breath"

Barricade breaths harshly and soon feels like he needs to push again, he goes through this stage six different times with screaming, including profanity in Cybertronian in-between due to his level of pain by that point when suddenly he heard the doctor tell him news he was waiting for, unfortunately by that point he was also completely exhausted since it had already been a thirty hour ordeal

"I see the head, okay one more push and he should be out"

"I...I can't...too tired"

"Come on Barricade, this is the last one, all you need to do is push one more time and you can see your sparkling in person"

"I...I can't...Ratchet...too tired...not...going to...last...fading fast"

That's when Ratchet's human colleague speaks up

"Barricade...I know you're tired, but you need to push, for the sake of your sparkling I need you to push one last time Barricade, otherwise your sparkling could die"

"I...I'll try...not sure...if I...can though...but...I'll try"

Barricade pushes one last time and soon hears his sparkling cry for the first time and finally catches his breath when he feels a familiar sensation right as the human doctor declares him almost finished, his body forcing him to catch a second wind to deliver his surprise second sparkling

"Just the afterbirth and everything will be finished"

"Uh...guys...I don't think I'm done..."

"WHAT?!"

Barricade pushed three more times and a second sparkling was born, Barricade caught his breath again when he felt another contraction, very briefly thinking it was just the afterbirth but quickly realizing that he had been carrying at least triplets the entire time and no one had known about it, he knew that he wouldn't last much longer though because his body was warning him he was going into stasis, but it was also forcing him to stay conscious long enough to safely deliver his third and final sparkling into the world

"Twins...you have twins Barricade...unless...do you feel like there's another?"

"Not...sure but I think...nope there's...definitely another"

"TRIPLETS?! YOU'RE HAVING SECRET TRIPLETS?!"

"YES I'M HAVING TRIPLETS! I HATE HUMAN EQUIPMENT, AHH!...IF IT HAD CAUGHT THIS...AAAHHH!...I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN CAUGHT BY SURPRISE...AAAHHH!...THIS HURTS...SO MUCH...GAGH!...WISH WE HAD...NGH!...DONE THE C-SECTION...OUCH! AND BEEN...DONE WITH IT...AAAAHHHHH!...OH MAN I WANT IT OUT NOW!...GAGH!"

Barricade pushes another four times and indeed had triplets, after his third sparkling he finished it up with the afterbirth only a minute later and was completely and totally exhausted by that point immediately entering recharge stasis, however because of that no one would know that just as Barricade had finished pushing his third sparkling out of his body he felt like something had ripped apart in his chest until it was almost too late. The triplets were put into Cybertronian incubators for their own safety since this was the first time that a protoform had been grown inside a Cybertronian

"They're out Barricade...you just delivered three sparklings...Barricade...Barricade do you hear me?"

"No good guys, I do believe he's in recharge stasis, his body lasting just long enough to deliver his third sparkling"

"It's no wonder, multiples are hard on human bodies, with the fact that this isn't normal for your species combined with it being surprise multiples it's no wonder he's exhausted"

"How did we miss triplets anyways...and just how dangerous was his birthing?"

"Very dangerous, it would have been safer to do a c-section, not sure if you noticed but the monitors were starting to show him being unstable near the end, as for how we missed triplets...well it happens even with human pregnancies"

"I noticed, thought it was just the stress of giving birth like a human would...guess I'm keeping all four of them under observation for a few days"

"Not a bad idea actually, we'd like to also monitor the situation the entire time he's stuck here...just in case"

"No problem with me"

"And by the way, when we say starting to become unstable, we mean that he was on the verge of us telling you to start preparing for a c-section in three hours if he either remained in his current condition or slowly started to get even worse"

"That I didn't notice, I only noticed it as he was...bearing down I believe you call it with the first sparkling"

"Well like I said, it would have been better for us to just do a c-section instead, not just because of the fact that it was triplets but because of his and their very health being at risk right at the point of being dilated enough to push, as it was we were watching very closely to see if the other one needed a c-section when he declared he needed to push again once his first was out"

"Fortunately it didn't happen"

"But it could have, now then I believe you have some people waiting to hear word on Barricade and the sparklings"

"Right, by the way how long did his labor take?"

The doctors look at the clock and are slightly surprised at how long it had taken for the sparklings to arrive once labor had progressed to the point that Barricade could actually give birth to his sparklings

"Thirty and a half hours, the initial thirty hours waiting for him to be dilated enough and then another half hour for him to actually give birth to his children"

"Understood, geeze, that's long even for you humans"

"Yes...it is"

Ratchet then goes outside to a waiting crowd and is suddenly very thankful that the medbay was soundproofed

"How are they Ratchet?"

"Barricade is weak and need to be kept a close eye on for a few days, we also discovered a little surprise...it turns out that Barricade was carrying triplets, the spark split during the time it would have into three without anyone noticing it, all four of them will be in the medbay until I release Barricade at the very least, but so far the triplets are doing fine"

"Triplets?...oh boy three times the trouble, and we need two more cribs"

"Yes, and by the way, he just endured a thirty and a half hour ordeal which is why he's so weak and tired, no one is allowed in until tomorrow at the earliest"


	8. Chapter 8

Korra herself was in shock and that was saying something due to how used to the fact she had gotten in regards to Barricade's pregnancy. Five hours later First Aid and Ratchet were fighting for Barricade's life and worried about the sparklings at the same time since they knew that the sparklings could feel what was happening to their carrier. Barricade had continued to be weak but stable in the first four hours when suddenly four and a half hours after the birth of the triplets he crashed and he crashed hard, they almost lost him before even getting him into surgery and neither had time to inform the Primes or Galvatron of the new situation it had happened so fast. The human doctors were there at the time of Barricade's crash due to them also doing a check up and were doing their best for the sparklings. Back when this had first started they had been informed everything that Ratchet and First Aid could think of about Cybertronian pregnancies and had discovered that sparklings  _could_  survive the breaking of a carrier bond and that the reverse was true, but  _only_ under specific circumstances including having spark support and medics nearby when the break with a dying carrier happened, and even then medics weren't always successful if the break was too sudden or medics were too far away. Even if the break wasn't sudden the age of the sparklings also played a role in survival and with them being only hours old they were at high risk of dying if they also lost Barricade even with the support of medics and the spark support

"Doctor what will we do if..."

"The best we can...if we lose all four of them...than at least we tried, that's all medics can do at the end of the day, our best"

"Do the Primes and Galvatron know what's happening?"

"Considering just how fast everything happened most likely not, and we're unable to tell them ourselves since we're busy doing our best to support the sparklings"

An hour later Rodimus was at the medbay to get an update on Barricade (Ratchet had decided that the Primes and Galvatron would get hourly updates due to Barricade's weakened condition after learning just how precarious it truly was from the human medics) since it was late when he noticed only the human medics, and then he noticed the empty bed that Barricade was supposed to be on and missing medics

"Guys...where's Barricade, Ratchet and First Aid?"

"They're...First Aid and Ratchet are in surgery...about an hour and a half ago Barricade starting crashing...hard, the two barely stabilized him for surgery and they've been going at it ever since"

"I see...I'll inform Optimus and Galvatron then, do your best for the sparklings if we lose Barricade?"

"Of course"

Fifteen hours after the marathon surgery started Ratchet came out alone to the waiting group and by the way he was walking they knew it wasn't good news

"He's stable, barely but he's stable, unfortunately we could still lose him at any moment, he's on the human version of life support...normally what spark support is is us keeping a spark stable enough for surgery but the patient is...breathing for lack of another word on their own still, we've had to take over his entire automatic functions, breathing and keeping his spark going, the sparklings aren't doing much better since they can feel what's happening to their carrier, but they're lucky that they don't need spark support yet and hopefully even if they were on spark support it wouldn't have to do much to keep them stable. Primes, Galvatron I need Barricade sent to Cybertron as soon as you can get it arranged, we have equipment there that's not available on Earth due to spacing issues, basically Cybertron's the best chance Barricade has to survive...if we don't get him home soon..."

"How soon Ratchet?"

"Preferably five hours, after that..."

"Understood Ratchet, we'll..."

Suddenly First Aid bursts out of the medbay and whispers urgently to Ratchet who runs back in without a word. Another twenty-four hours later Ratchet is outside the medbay with his demeanor not revealing anything to the rest of the group

"How is he Ratchet?"

(Sighs) "It was close...real close, fortunately he should be fine and completely healed in a few months. Normally it would be sooner but...it turns out that there's a reason only females of both species have children, for humans it's a biological reason, but for us Cybertronians it's a much more dangerous reason. Males carrying sparklings are at high risk for a variety of complications...Barricade was almost killed due to said complications, we got lucky in that regards"

"What kind of complications?"

(Sighs) "Internal bleeding from his abdomen, and other issues that I am not going to get into, but those issues are why he's sidelined for several months, and several other minor issues that aren't worth bringing up. He's going to be in medical stasis for at least a week just to heal from the two surgeries so close together that they might be considered one in all honesty by most in the medical field, then I am placing him on medical leave until I am certain that he has fully regained his physical strength, and that includes his spark, and he's going to be checked regularly for  _at least_  three years to make sure that there's no weakness when he's been fighting, due to...issues regarding to what's weakened his spark in the first place"

"Ratchet...what were his  _exact_  injuries which is causing him to be sidelined for several months"

(Sighs) "I was afraid you would ask that, however I am going to leave that to First Aid since he was the lead on the second half of the two surgeries"

Fifteen minutes later First Aid came out of the medbay

"Ratchet, he's settled now, but the sparklings are upset still"

"I'll calm them down, you are to report on the second surgery we did since you took the lead on that one"

"Yes sir"

He faces the group knowing that they wanted answers

"First Aid, what are his exact injuries that have us down a soldier for several months?"

"First you need to know why I called Ratchet back after we had thought him stable, we didn't know it initially but carrying triplets weakened his spark,  _dangerously_  weakened it to be honest. After we got him on life support I started preparing him for transport to Cybertron"

"Yes, Ratchet failed to mention if that was still needed"

"It's not, at least as far as we're aware it's no longer needed since what Ratchet was really after was a special stasis chamber that doesn't fit here, but the surgery we just did makes it a moot point, though Barricade will remain on life support during his medical stasis just in case. As for his injuries..." (Sighs) " When we opened his chest to actually look at his spark to see what had caused it to fail we saw a combination of a cracked spark casing and broken Energon lines leading to his spark"

"What? That's..."

"That's exactly what happened sir, I know it shouldn't have been possible but it happened, his spark casing must have cracked either during his marathon labor ordeal or some time during that last month he was confined to the medbay on an Energon drip, the Energon lines leading to his spark have been confirmed to have definitely severed while he was actively pushing his sparklings out of his body to bring them into the world, however it wasn't a complete severing which is why he was stable for the first four and a half hours after delivery. As for the cracked spark casing some of it actually wound up in his spark injuring it and causing his spark to start failing while on the life support, we dealt with the Energon lines first taking twenty-two and a half hours carefully either reconnecting the lines or replacing the lines with new ones, the last hour and a half were spent making sure we got all the pieces of his spark casing out of his spark and repairing said casing so that it wouldn't cause any problems in the future as far as we're aware of"

"What exactly triggered the crash in the first place?"

"That neither Ratchet and I are sure of, we're going to ask our human colleagues once they're awake and coherent, but the two of us were writing reports in his office when we heard the monitors go off, we barely got him stable to do the surgeries in the first place it was that precarious"

The next day the human doctors who had been Barricade's medics since his fourth month of carrying the sparklings, which the humans and sometimes Cybertronians both called it pregnancy

"We need to know if anything triggered his crash and near death"

"Well first off you have to understand that we had just done our basic checks on Barricade so we were primarily focusing on his sparklings fortunately I decided to double check that we actually had checked the drips since I was tired enough that I wanted to double check our work to ensure we didn't accidentally miss anything. As soon as I turned around I noticed that Barricade's had was twitching and thought that meant that he was waking up, so I went over to give him a report on his little ones when suddenly his body arched up off the bed three different times right before the alarms went off. You and First Aid didn't notice it Ratchet because you weren't focused on anything but the monitors and making sure you stabilized him for surgery but while you were working his legs and arms were constantly twitching in a very familiar pattern to me...though I was too tired to truly realize it at the time and thus why I didn't say anything then, but now...now I can recall every detail perfectly and can warn you...you might actually still lose Barricade while he's in medical stasis"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because as far as I'm aware...your species can't get seizures, Barricade suffered a seizure right before he crashed, now then I don't know what caused the initial seizure but unless you find out the cause than you could lose him to another one, either that or he now has a permanent disability and will have seizures for the rest of his life"

"Great...and I need to come up with a procedure to prevent anyone but our version of females from carrying sparklings ever again for their own health, even if you're experimented on like Barricade was"

"We'll help you figure out what caused Barricade's seizure Ratchet, and also try and find a way of preventing future occurrences...in the meantime, I think you have hungry sparklings to feed until Barricade is awake and strong enough to do it himself"

"Which is easy since all he has to do is ensure they have sparkling grade Energon cubes on a timetable until they're old enough to sleep through the night"

"You...didn't notice during the exams or surgery?"

"Notice what?"

"Barricade can feed his sparklings the same way human females can"

"What?"

"Yeah...we noticed two weeks before he went into labor that he had developed the ability to feed his sparklings naturally, basically he developed human like breasts sometime in the last two months of the pregnancy"

That was ultimately the last straw for Prowl who crashed temporarily. After he woke up they discussed examining Barricade for what they had missed and what Ratchet's human colleagues had claimed about Barricade, but they decided to wait until Barricade was awake to have some symbolince of privacy still for Barricade

"How did we miss something that major?"

"Not entirely sure about during his regular exams before he went into labor, but as for the surgery most likely you were so focused on saving his spark I now theorize you missed that development since it wasn't important to what was needed to keep his spark going"

"Why didn't Barricade speak up about the development?"

"That we'll have to wait until he wakes up since he's the only one who can answer that question, for now..."

"Right feeding time for sparklings"

A week later Barricade was released from medical stasis but would remain asleep for another four days, and the only reason no one else was panicking was because none of the medics, human or Cybertronian were acting worried, the second day he was unconscious Ratchet summed it up quite nicely in fact

"Look, he went through a lot in a very short period of time, it's no wonder his body is still telling him he needs rest"

"But..."

"Look I'll sum things up for you in a way you understand Prowl, over a period of sixty-nine and a half hours, which is almost three straight days, Barricade went through a marathon ordeal of labor in order to deliver his sparklings and then went through two extensive surgeries in order to keep him alive, he only got four and a half hours of rest between the delivery and the surgery, we then put him in medical stasis so that he wouldn't wake up or move suddenly while the welds inside and out started to heal. There's a  _reason_  he's going to have months of recovery ahead of him, the fact that he's still asleep just means that his body understands that it needs rest to heal and recover from everything he's been through in such a short amount of time. He'll wake up when his body and mind tell him it's safe to wake up, we've already set in motion letting his mind know it's safe by constantly talking to him, now it's up to his body to decide when he's recovered enough to actually wake up, though we won't actually do much explaining to him until we know he's coherent...as it is we're slightly worried that he'll have forgotten the sparklings he's delivered due to his having a seizure so soon after said delivery, but it's more likely that once he's actually awake he'll be wanting to hold his sparklings for the first time since giving birth to them"

Finally though on the fourth day Barricade briefly woke up while Ratchet was doing his daily checks on him

"Hello there"

"Ratchet? What happened to me?"

"I'll tell you later...once you can actually stay awake"

Barricade was fast asleep before Ratchet even finished speaking to Barricade, once he knew Barricade was asleep he frowned slightly, knowing that the initial signs weren't good for Barricade actually remembering his own sparklings. First Aid and one of the human medics (who had finally been asked to stay on in an official capacity as a civilian EDC contractor) came in shortly afterwords

"How is he?"

"He woke up briefly...initial signs aren't good though for his sparklings"

"What if he never remembers them?...they're almost ready to be released from the medbay after what we discovered shortly after you saved Barricade's life now that we know how to feed them"

"One step at a time doctor, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, in the meantime it could simply be that he's still so exhausted he doesn't remember the last thing he did before waking up...I've seen it happen plenty of times before"

"Understood, by the way his seizures?"

"I have a theory about that actually...have there been instances of post delivery seizures in humans?"

"Yes...it's rare but it does happen"

"That might have been what happened with Barricade...even if it was slightly delayed, I've done all my checks that I can think of and there's nothing to indicate a permanent problem...if it happens down the road we'll look into the possibility again but for now..."

"It's as good a theory as we could have come up with...but there are a few more checks on the human side you might want to do just in case"

"Understood"

Three hours later Barricade woke up again and heard a sound he had never heard before, crying, he also heard First Aid speaking softly

"There, there...just a few more minutes and you'll be able to eat...I promise"

Barricade looks in the direction of First Aid's voice and as soon as he sees the sparkling in First Aid's arms his optics go wide and he speaks up because seeing the sparkling triggered his last memories of what he had been doing before his most recent waking period. The reason he had forgotten was indeed because he was still exhausted from his ordeal, that combined with the extremely brief period of waking meant he hadn't asked about his nearly week and a half old sparklings. As soon as his memories were triggered though he spoke up wanting to hold his sparkling

"First Aid...hand me my sparkling please"

First Aid turns at Barricade's voice and smiles speaking up

"Of course Barricade...let me get Ratchet and the other medics, they'll want to know that you're awake again...plus we have some tests and questions we need to ask you"

First Aid hands Barricade his fussy sparkling and two minutes later Ratchet and the human medics were by Barricade's bedside, as were his other two sparklings, which were not currently crying but everyone but Barricade knew they would be when it was past time to eat

"It's good to see you actually awake Barricade"

"Ratchet...before you ask me any of your questions I have to know...how long have I been unconscious?"

"A week and four days, however I had to put you in medical stasis for a week...Barricade I have to ask, what's the last thing you remember? I know you remembered your sparklings due to First Aid...but I have to know your exact last memories"

"I remember telling you that I was actually having triplets and then...nothing until you asked me how I was feeling the last time I was awake"

"Well, that's good, it means that you're only missing about three minutes worth of memories, after you safely delivered your third sparkling, you finished with the afterbirth and immediately passed out in exhaustion, you have two boys and a girl by the way, we didn't have time to tell you what the last two were since you passed out immediately after you were physically finished with the birthing process. I thought you were only going to sleep for five or six hours instead...instead we almost lost you twice. Four and a half hours after you gave birth you apparently had a seizure and crashed, after First Aid and I stabilized you we rushed you into surgery and discovered that you had internal bleeding in your abdomen due to carrying and delivering your sparklings naturally, while I was giving the Primes and Galvatron my report you crashed again and that's when we discovered that you had severe and fatal spark injuries, you're going to be under medical leave for several months and then checked after every battle for  _at least_  next three years once I clear you for active duty"

"Why?"

(Sighs) "Barricade you...we almost lost you due to a cracked spark casing and Energon lines breaking off from your spark, when the casing cracked you also had pieces of the casing actually embedded in your spark, it took a full human day to ultimately save your life, and you're going to be tired and weak for a while yet between recovering from the carry period and the surgeries that were needed to save your life"

"I understand...at least I can take care of my little ones while I'm on leave"

"Yes...about that actually, were you aware of the fact that you can actually feed your sparklings exactly like human females do?"

"I can?"

"You didn't know?"

"Not...entirely, I knew that there was something different a couple of weeks before I went into labor because while I was having my daily shower I suddenly felt an uncomfortable pressure in my chest, but it faded after a few moments and so I thought nothing of it"

"That must have actually been a warning sign that you were in the final stages of your pregnancy, that was basically your feeding systems going active in preparation of the impending arrival of your sparklings. At least...that's the only theory I can come up with"

"Speaking of...the one Barricade is hold has been crying for the past few minutes for food and the other two will start in about a minute...so why don't we let Barricade feed his sparklings and then we'll continue where we left off, we still have tests we need to run Barricade, and also a few more questions about any other signs that you might have accidentally ignored not knowing that your body was telling you that it was almost time to give birth to your sparklings"

"Right...um...how exactly...am I supposed to access the feeding systems?"

"That's...a good question, human females have breasts, as for our females they simply give their sparklings special Energon from a cube, which is how we've been trying feeding your sparklings while you were unconscious, though not with much success, ultimately we've resorted to human feeding tubes when it's meal time since they seem to be having trouble taking their Energon like most sparklings would have done"

"Well...that's no longer an option because I am feeling quite...uncomfortable right now"

"How about we try this...Barricade open your chest plate as wide as it goes"

Barricade opens his chest plate and that's when the Cybertronian medics discovered that their human colleagues were correct in that Barricade could indeed feed his sparklings the same way humans fed their children

"Okay Barricade, just like we were told you can feed your sparklings yourself, you have two sac like items in your chest with Energon inside them, but how the sparklings are supposed to actually get the Energon is a mystery to me"

"Just help him hold two of his sparklings to his chest...the rest should come naturally"

As soon as the sparklings mouths were against the sacs they started acting like human babies and sucking at the sacs, and Barricade sighs in relief as the pressure is finally relieved. Fifteen minutes later Barricade finished feeding his sparklings who then went right to sleep


	9. Chapter 9

"Okay so that's how feeding the sparklings will work. When you feel...full for lack of a better word open your chest and have two of the sparklings rest on top of the sacs, as soon as the first two have eaten you'll feel one of the sacs fill up again and feed the third sparkling, this will continue until they are old enough to start having normal Energon...though you'll still need to feed them yourself for several months until they are completely weened off of you"

"Okay...you guys mentioned questions and tests"

"Yes...we need to know if there were any other signs that you missed that your body was telling you it was getting close to time to deliver your sparklings and then...we need to see if you have a seizure disorder or if the seizure simply happened as a post delivery seizure, in human females some of them have a seizure post delivery and never have them again, others develop a seizure disorder stemming from the post delivery seizure, as such that's part of what we'll be watching for over the coming months as you recover from giving birth to your sparklings and the surgeries you had that saved your life"

"I'll answer your questions first, naturally you know about how I was unable to get comfortable the day I went into labor, you also know about the sacs that activated that I dismissed as uncomfortable pressure in my chest briefly...let's see what else...oh...Ratchet remember the week I spent organizing your tools and equipment by size and alphabetical order, and general cleaning around the medbay since I was confined in here by that time"

"Nesting...you were nesting, another sign that you're about to give birth soon"

"I was also...sensitive when certain parts of my frame like my back and stomach during exams...actually now that I think about it the two weeks leading up to when I went into labor my chest was also sensitive to touch, I hadn't noticed it since you rarely touched that part of my frame. The last forty-eight hours before I gave birth also had me increase my Energon consumption by a lot, I think Prowl calculated it at sixty percent increase before I suddenly didn't want any Energon the day I went into labor, I only kept the Energon drip because I knew I would pass out without it...oh and right before my water broke and I was feeling contractions my whole frame seemed to heat up making me feel like I was overheating, I had just started feeling the effects of the shower when I felt a sharp pain like when I went into premature labor and felt my water break, and you know the story from there"

"Yeah, you were in labor for thirty and a half hours only to be followed up by two major surgeries back to back after only four and a half hours rest, all thanks to hidden complications that we almost lost you permanently from"

"But you didn't lose me, you kept me stable or near stable the entire time"

Ratchet and First Aid exchange looks which told Barricade that something was up

"Ratchet...First Aid, what aren't you telling me, the Primes or Galvatron?"

(Sighs) "first I have a question for our human colleagues"

"What is it Ratchet?"

"Did the sparklings...have sudden difficulties during the twenty-four hours we were working to save Barricade's spark from leaving us permanently?"

"Yes actually...they...they started to become weak and unstable, we ultimately had to put them on spark support for an hour and a half in order to stabilize them and keep them alive, we only turned it off and disconnected it when over the comm system you installed you said that you were coming out again and that First Aid was simply doing some finishing touches before transferring him to your version of the ICU"

(Sighs) "I was afraid it had happened...Barricade you were technically dead for the last hour and a half of the spark surgery...we fudged our oral report to the leaders and have delayed our written reports until we knew for certain that you were truly stable and awake, it didn't take us the full hour and a half to remove the pieces of your broken spark casing from your spark and fixing what we could of said spark casing. That only took us five minutes since the damage wasn't as severe as we thought, the rest of the time...the rest of the time we used every trick in the book to bring your spark back to life, and keep you here, we used the human method of defibrillation enough times and at such a high voltage that I lost count of both. We also shared our spark energy with you several times in our attempts to bring you back, we even went so far as to split up two different methods so both could happen at once...taking turns one of us would shared our spark energy with you while the other would feed Energon directly into your spark casing from an Energon line from our very frames, basically a direct Energon feeding line. We had just finished our last combination of human and Cybertronian medicines where we injected adrenaline, a direct Energon line, spark sharing and defibrillation and were about to be forced to declare you dead when suddenly you came back to us, granted it was a dangerously weak spark pulse at first but you were back and we knew it once the pulse lasted longer than two minutes. The reason First Aid came out fifteen minutes after I did was to continue stabilizing your spark to the point where he could induce medical stasis safely and even then we kept you on life support the entire week you were in stasis knowing that you could suddenly crash on us again at any moment with the possibility of actually losing you this time"

"You know the Primes and Galvatron aren't going to be happy with you guys once they have the written reports"

"Yeah we know, but we've also put our explanations in said written reports so that they understand why we didn't give them a full and honest report after the initial surgery"

"Well, for now we have tests to do to determine if he has a seizure disorder or not"

"Indeed we do"

"Wait...one more thing I think you guys should know, I was unable to inform you of this due to the fact that I went unconscious right after I finished delivering my third sparkling but while I was pushing them out of my body I felt like something had ripped apart in my chest"

"Which means you were slowly bleeding to death for four and a half hours before you had a seizure and crashed hard, thus alerting us to the fact that you had a problem and were in danger"

The tests would come up clean and Ratchet and First Aid were indeed in trouble for lying in their oral report...however at the same time the three leaders understood why the two had done so and were much more lenient than they otherwise would have been, basically they were restricted to base for three months, and oral reports had to be given at the same time as written reports so that they correlated with each other, though they were allowed to skim over minor details in oral reports everything else had to be exactly like the written reports during the same time period that they were restricted to base. Over the next three months everyone adapted to Barricade's needs in regards to caring for his sparklings, and they also adapted to the sparklings themselves. Finally though summer hit and everyone noticed that Korra was getting excited about it

"So summer is coming up"

"Yeah, and I have an idea that I need to run by the leaders, but hopefully things will go well"

They soon find out that Korra wanted to go to summer camp and it was approved. During camp though she would have an unexpected adventure that she wouldn't reveal except to certain people for many years. Once back home she finished her summer in peace and soon enough it was time for school again

"So school starts up again next week"

"Yeah, hopefully things will end peacefully"

"What about your Canadian French lessons?"

"They're going smoothly all things considered, my teacher says that I should be fluent by winter but makes no promises considering how much my lessons were interrupted between the search for Barricade and it's...aftermath"

"That's something at least"

Korra started school back up again and was indeed declared fluent in Canadian French by winter, in fact she had actually been declared fluent shortly after Thanksgiving break. A few days later Korra was simply doing homework when suddenly she noticed that Prowl, Sideswipe and Red Alert had suddenly gone stiff which made her pay closer attention to her family members knowing that something was going on in the seven way bond that they had, she also quickly thought about who would be the most likely in trouble and realized that it was Jazz and Sunstreaker since Bluestreak and Smokescreen were in Japan for a conference while Jazz and Sunstreaker were doing reconnaissance on a suspected compromised factory, with the compromise suspected being Quintessons secretly arriving. A minute later while they didn't actually collapse Red Alert did slam his hand down on the alarm while Sideswipe suddenly ran from the room while Prowl collapsed into the chair with a hand going to his chest, he also spoke out loud saying something that was very concerning

"Red Alert we don't have time for a full team, they're getting into more trouble by the minute and...at least one of them is injured, not sure about the other yet"

"It better not be Sunstreaker because otherwise Sideswipe will be unable to function due to the twin bond"

"Agreed"

The rest of her family is soon in the room and they are debriefed on the situation and while naturally Red Alert and Prowl were unable to go the others were full ready. Korra wouldn't find out until later that it was Jazz that was injured pretty badly but would recover given time, Sunstreaker was uninjured and helping Jazz when the rescue team arrived. When the rest of the seven members of the bond returned they reported feeling the incident and were relieved that after a few days Jazz would be okay if not back on active duty again for a little while longer after that

"So what now?"

"Now we keep to our routine, you have school in the morning Korra so it's bedtime for you"

"Understood"

The next day though things went wrong and the school was attacked while Korra was at the football field for phys ed class

"Now what?"

"Now...now I get to kill some Linfarins"

"Uh...Korra..."

"Sorry teacher, but this is something I have to do since it will take time for the EDC to get here"

Korra starts to fight and then suddenly she grabbed her necklace, yanked it off her neck (she had deliberately gotten a cord that could do so when she was old enough just for that purpose, instinctively knowing it might be needed) and threw it towards the enemy which confused everyone, but she had a reason she was doing this. She had discovered that her necklace had absorbed her powers while keeping them contained and she could now use the necklace as a long ranged weapon

"Multiple explosions!"

She takes out ten of the enemy with her necklace and finally the EDC arrives and takes out the rest. The next day at school she finds out that she's going over to England for a month as an exchange student due to a new program that England and the United States were working on. She made sure her international weapons permit was good to go and also that she had her passport and left for England. A few days after she arrived she was leaving a train when suddenly she was stopped by an officer with a dog


	10. Chapter 10

"Excuse me, this is a drug dog, and even though you're very young to have done drugs..."

She is pulled over and asked directly

"Do you have any drugs on you?"

(Sighs) "I don't have any drugs...but can this dog detect anything besides drugs?"

"Yes, he can detect...they get younger and younger each year"

"My wallet...it has my permit for the weapon I am carrying, if you check it you'll find it valid"

They see the permit she's talking about and do indeed get back that it was a valid and current weapons permit

"Why do you have a weapons permit so young?"

"EDC kid"

"Ah...we know the policy, understood, we'll inform everyone else about your situation so that you'll be allowed back on your way as soon as they see your identification"

A rookie officer though was confused

"What policy?"

"Children of EDC officers can get their weapons permit as young as eight years old depending on circumstances surrounding their need for a weapon, but the EDC is  _very_  careful about making sure that it's a real need, which Miss Kerenai must have"

"Indeed I do, my family situation kind of has forced me to learn how to defend myself from a very young age"

"How long are you staying by the way?"

"A month as an exchange student"

"Very well, like I said everyone else will be informed about your situation and the fact that you'll be here a month so that they know how long to be on the lookout for your specific identification"

"Thanks"

The month passes peacefully until the day before Korra was set to leave the country, that day there was a mass attack around the country which caused it to go into lock-down, just like America had done on 9/11 so many years ago

"Okay...now what?"

"First we go to the Embassy since we were only supposed to be here for a month, than we take things one step at a time once that mess is all sorted out, and I'm going to be the most complicated one for reasons I am not going to discuss with you"

They all quickly go to the Embassy and explain the situation once they were seen

"I understand, I'll see what I can do with the British Government but I'm not making any promises, due to the circumstances I am asking you to remain on Embassy grounds until you hear from me what the exact plan of action is, it's the safest location for you considering the situation right now"

"Sir...about my situation..."

"I know Kerenai,  _you_  are going to be under more restrictions than the rest of the group, not only are you ordered to remain on Embassy grounds, but unless you are with a member of the Marines or a different security person you are to remain indoors at all times and...I am going to have to temporarily confiscate your bags"

"How long sir?"

"A few hours at most hopefully, but might take longer depending on...issues that you are already aware of"

"Now wait just a minute! I can't allow a child to be stuck indoors all day when there's no medical reason for such a restriction"

"It's not a medical restriction, it's a safety restriction, one I've lived in the shadow of for a very long time now, we've only been lucky that it hasn't been needed until now"

"Indeed, now then follow security and they'll take you to your temporary quarters while we get everything sorted out"

"Oh...did you get a report about earlier this year?"

"Yes, I heard, I was definitely shocked for the second time in such a short period, the worst part was I was informed very late about what I almost had to do...two months after it happened"

"Uh...I'll need to talk to some people about that then, you should have been informed a week after the incident  _at the latest_ , because even with this being an allied country and relatively peaceful..."

"Peace can be short lived and it would have affected things drastically if it was needed"

"Exactly, after all everyone was initially in overdrive...we have calmed down since then though, how did you know it was two months afterwords anyways?"

"I had my aid check the date of the actual announcement, was definitely miffed that it was two months late for me"

"I don't doubt it"

"Now then, you need to go with the group"

"I know"

With that the group left and settled in for what was potentially a long period of being stuck on Embassy grounds, with Korra resigned to being stuck indoors indefinitely, what they weren't aware of was that the British government was aware of the current dilemma and had come to a solution only hours after they temporarily closed their boarders, all school age children would be allowed to continue going to school until they could return home and everyone else that was stuck for longer than initially told they would be there would have an extension on either their visas or passport permissions. Korra was told about this privately due to her unique circumstances

"Oh and Korra, the government says you're on open carry rules while in country for the duration of your stay"

"Understood sir"

"They also said something about you talking to the EDC kids that are living in country right now"

"Oh I think I know what that's about, I'll just have to confirm my suspicions at some point"

"Actually they said that a letter would come either tomorrow or the day after about what they want you to talk to them about"

"Got it"

Korra would ultimately turn out to be correct in that the British government wanted her to talk to the other EDC kids about not only some gun safety but also some new defense tips when dealing with EDC enemies. She and the others stuck in country past their expected period would ultimately be unable to go home until shortly after Christmas, and that was  _with_  Korra helping whenever she could, during that time she learned that Mirage was sent on a long term mission, but was expected to be back by the end of the school year, no one knew though that things had gone wrong shortly before Korra would go home and no one knew about it initially, but someone did soon find out, and would reveal the truth the hard way when the time came. Meanwhile Marissa Faireborn was at the airport waiting for Korra and when she saw her called out to her

"Korra!, over here"

Korra goes over to Captain Faireborn and then they both head out to the car which was one of Korra's family members that day

"Hey Bluestreak"

"Hey Korra, welcome home"

"Thanks, good to finally be back where I belong, now then I know the school was informed about the delay as was the family, but how has the school managed the issue?"

"Don't worry we have your class schedule ready for you after Christmas break is over with"

"That's good to hear"

"So what's with the video tape we received last month?"

"Oh...forgot to give you reference for what you were seeing, that was a street version of a mixed martial arts competition with the various disciplines going at it in friendly competition. My final opponent lost to me, but you also saw me helping them to the medical station I'm sure"

"Okay, do you have a full tape of the event?"

"Yes, security made sure of it, the only reason why that section was sent to you was for confirmation that I was safe"

"Understood"

They get back to base and Korra explains the tape and runs it, finally it's her last opponent once more

_Last month_

"I am a black belt in Judo"

"I am a black belt in Karate"

The two bow to each other and go at it, but Korra notices that her opponent was favoring their right leg and had suspicions which were easily confirmed with one kick, as such she quickly got three points and the two bowed to the judge and then to each other. Once the bow was done she moved to shake her opponents hand and then deliberately went to their weak side

"Let me help you to the medics"

"I'm fine"

"You're injured, I suspect a sprained ankle at the least, it's quite possibly broken, but I don't know that for sure, all I know is that you're favoring said ankle"

It would turn out that the ankle was indeed broken and as such the rest of their opponents won by default, but all the competitors understood it was for the best and the safety of their sparring partner

_Present_

"This paints a full picture, why didn't you explain in the first place?"

"Sorry, forgot that you wouldn't have gotten a full picture"

"By the way, did you get our gifts?"

"Yes I did, thanks for sending them, even if you weren't sure they would actually get to me"

"Oh we knew they would get to you, we just weren't sure if they would get to you in time"

"Oh...you used a complicated route to get them to me because while flying has been banned the entire time the border has opened up occasionally to train and boat traffic, mostly boat traffic for supplies"

"Exactly"

"Oh by the way I've given everyone except for Mirage who left on his mission before I could complete my work modifications which will prevent anyone else from carrying a sparkling, this means you won't risk almost losing a family member again to them giving birth, at least if you aren't a female I've given the modifications"

"That's good to hear, I hated almost losing Barricade to his having children the same way human females do"

"So did I, it's why I worked so hard on that project, and also why he was the first one to be given the modifications...don't worry I made sure that it wouldn't interfere with Barricade feeding his sparklings while they were still dependent on him for food"

"Well school starts back up soon so it's time for you to get back into your routine"

"Right"

A few days later Korra was back in school and getting back into the routine when suddenly one day after school Korra suddenly had to fight. A few hours later Korra was upset but still fighting well when suddenly her opponent stopped and due to who her opponent was she also stopped

"You're not going full out Korra"

"You know full well why Punch, why? Why betray us?"

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to find out when the leaders do, get this to the Primes, Galvatron and Jazz"

Punch tosses Korra a microchip and then leaves in the air, her shooting after him but missing completely. After she was sure Punch was gone she went back home to report the fact that she had failed to capture Punch

"Understood"

"Optimus, I need you, Rodimus, Galvatron and Jazz in the conference room, Punch left something for the five of us"

"Very well Korra"

Ten minutes later everyone was in the conference room and it was secured

"Okay Korra what did Punch leave us?"

"This"

Korra inserts the microchip into the reader and suddenly on the viewscreen Punch was seen

"Hey guys, if you're watching this than that means that Korra succeeded in getting the microchip and informed you about it, Korra I'm sorry you feel like I've betrayed the family most likely but I do have my reasons, and that reason is Mirage, Jazz I know that Mirage is one of the best agents you have but something went wrong on his last mission and he was captured by Linfarins and Quintessons, I happened to find this out by chance and decided to try and rescue him without any backup, I also know that due to the nature of his mission he wouldn't be declared missing for a while yet and that's why I decided on this course of action in the first place. Primes, Galvatron there's a very good chance that the base is compromised and as such you need to make preparations to either abandon the base or defend it as hard as you ever could. I hope to be back soon with Mirage but if I should fail then know I failed trying to rescue one of our own, for now don't tell the others the truth about why I did what I did, for my plan to work I need everyone to believe I've betrayed the family, and another thing while my reports will be sporadic I will never be out of contact for longer than two months, if that ever happens than I am to be declared missing and presumed dead and the truth can be revealed to the rest of the army. This is Punch/Counterpunch signing off"

Once the video ended the Cybertronian half of the family had a silent comm discussion and then spoke out loud for Korra's sake

"Korra, there are going to be new base rules established until further notice for everyone's safety due to the news we've just received from Punch, we've also decided to say that Jazz has sent him on a mission of urgent priority that means he will be gone for an undetermined amount of time and sporadic contact for his own safety"

"Understood, let me know when the rules are established and in place?"

"Yes, meeting will hopefully be tonight but no later than tomorrow night"

"Got it"

That night she was informed of the new base rules that were in place until further notice, one new rule was that all EDC kids were formally forbidden from being outside at certain times if they were not with their parents or legal guardians, another new rule was that no one who was trained and had permission to have a firearm was to leave one in the armory, all EDC officers and any and all EDC kids with weapons permits were to now have a weapon by their side at all times, even when they were off duty or asleep for the kids, fortunately the schools were already informed of this possibility when the policy of training EDC kids from a young age to shoot was first introduced


	11. Chapter 11

"Well, I'm off to bed"

"Of course Korra, it's the weekend tomorrow right?"

"Yes, and don't worry I remember the plans we have"

Suddenly before Korra could go to her bedroom her phone rang and she answered it like she always did after checking the number and not recognizing it

_Korra_

"This is Kerenai speaking go ahead"

_Person_

"Hello there...did you miss me?"

_Korra_

"Who are you?"

_Person_

"Don't tell me you forgot...did you really think leaving Britain would get you away from me and our little game?"

_Korra_

"I didn't truly forget, I just simply decided not to think about you once I was no longer an active player in the game, and to be honest...yes, yes I did think that leaving the country would take me away from the game"

_Person_

"You should know better than that...I missed you, why did you leave in the first place when we were having so much fun?"

_Korra_

"Your little game wasn't fun, as for why I left, it's because I'm not a citizen of that country, I had to go home...I wasn't expecting to be followed though"

_Person_

"You should know better than that, after all you know me and my pattern by now"

_Korra_

"I swear, if you do  _anything_ against those under my protection I will kill you if I get the chance"

_Person_

"Come now, I just want to have a little fun...I left a present for you at the post office...get it by closing tomorrow...you know what will happen if you don't"

_Korra_

"I'm surprised you scheduled it so that I have to wait, considering how you like to play"

_Person_

"There was little choice this time all things considered...you'll hear from me again real soon"

_Korra_

"I know, that's simply part of the game for you...don't worry I'll be expecting your call"

Korra hangs up and sees her family confused

"I can't explain...not yet anyways, you'll find out tomorrow...before our plans are put into motion I need to visit the post office earliest possible moment"

"Very well"

The next day as soon as the post office was open Korra went and asked if there was anything for her and was told that there was, once she signed for the package she went outside and opened it right then and there. Her family and the EDC officer with her knew she was in shock as soon as she opened the package

"Korra?"

"We need to get back to base... _now_ "

"Okay...why?"

"Sorry, can't explain, just understand that it's for the best, tell the Primes and Galvatron that our plans will have to wait, I have some explaining to do"

Korra gets back to base and as soon as the three leaders were in the conference room Korra revealed what was in the package, photos of victims and their families and objects that she was very familiar with

"Korra...what is all this, who are these people?"

"Police officers and their families, also personal objects that they either carried on them during work or that I would be familiar with from their home since I helped the police while I was in the country"

"Korra?"

(Sighs) "You know that the Britain was closed due to terrorists, what you didn't know was that during the time I was there the police decided to ask for my help when they realized who I was. They were trying to catch a serial killer and thanks to the skills I have and the permission you gave me to help the police if I so chose around the world they decided to ask if I could help after school and during the weekends. I agreed and started helping them on their case. The criminal likes to toy with us waiting until the time is right to kill again, if he's killed all these officers so close together something has changed and I don't like it, the fact that he's possibly here in America to continue the games with me makes me even more nervous"

Suddenly her phone rang and she answered it just like before, but this time she makes sure that she's on speakerphone

_Korra_

"This is Kerenai speaking go ahead"

_Person_

"It's me...did you get my present?"

_Korra_

"I did...why did you decide to follow me all the way home?"

_Person_

"I wasn't finished when you left...if you had stayed I would have given up and ended the game, but since you left I was forced to continue...and also get rid of the players that remained in order for you to understand how serious I am about this"

_Korra_

"I see...too bad for you that you killed police officers, Britain is going to be all over you as soon as they catch up to you, that's  _if_  America is lenient and doesn't decide to go after you themselves if you truly start playing your sick little game here"

_Person_

"Oh...but it's already begun...the clock is ticking and you're running late, however due to how things work in this country I'm not surprised...turn on the news and listen for information about remote locations...you'll know when it's me when you hear it"

The caller hangs up and they instantly turn on the news and just like the caller said Korra knew it was the person who was playing with her as soon as she heard what few details the police had given the news in the first place

"Now then the police said that right now it's too early in the investigation to reveal much, but they will say that the attack was brutal and seemingly unprovoked. The FBI are getting involved and have already set up an information hotline that anyone can call with information about the suspect or a possible motive behind the murders"

"Guys...I have to go, I'm the only one who knows this case"

"We know...what about the British government?"

"Let them know he's overseas and that I want all the information that we've already gathered sent to FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. I'll be waiting for it there"

"Understood"

Five days later Korra was in Washington at the FBI headquarters when suddenly an agent came into the room where a task-force had been set up to deal with Korra's criminal. Due to the fact that her phone automatically recorded all conversations they had listened to the two phone calls that the suspect had made to her already and had grilled her for any information that she could recall off the top of her head to start getting an idea about the criminal

"Kerenai...there's several boxes in the lobby for you"

"Send them up and then I'll sign for them, they're important to our current case"

Three hours later they were looking through the files Britain had sent when a profiler spoke out

"Got him! I have a pattern which means we can stop him before his next killing...think we can get Britain to agree to let us kill him in their stead?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because he's been in country longer than what he told you Kerenai, I went home for a few days last week because I received word that my brother had been killed in the line of duty as a state trooper. I was given the file on his death since they figured nothing of it, turns out he was killed by the man we're after, though admittedly we're going to have to get him to confess since while I'm sure he killed my brother there's no real link"

"I'm sure we can make a convincing argument if we can get him to confess to murdering your brother"

"Let's do it"

Sadly it would take another two weeks to catch the serial killer in which he killed two more families, but once in custody he confessed to all the murders he committed in America and Britain, including the fact that he killed the agent's brother. Britain did indeed let America sentence the serial killer and it was indeed the death sentence, the murderer would never reach jail though, he attempted to escape and was killed. They later found out that was his goal the entire time through letters and journals he left behind

"Well that's the end of that"

"Indeed, time for us to move on with our lives"

"So have any stories for us from Britain besides the criminal you tried to catch and the martial arts competition?"

"Two of them, both involving Britain's rail system. The first time I was just off their subway shortly after arriving in country when I was stopped by a drug dog, they pulled me over and asked me if I had any drugs and I didn't, but then I asked if they were trained to detect things other than drugs and they confirmed that the dog was trained to detect guns and that's when Britain learned about my weapon and international permit, this was before I was on open carry rules by the way. The second time was shortly after the country went into lock-down, I was going on a field trip to Scotland when I was stopped by a drug dog again, this time however I couldn't deny that I had drugs on me, however I was let off scott free because the drugs I had on me were over the counter painkillers and allergy medicines which I was allowed on my person unlike everyone else due to my unique circumstances"

"Were you ever stopped for your weapon?"

"After I was on open carry rules only once and that was because of the fact that while the police knew I was on open carry rules they decided to do a surprise test on my skills and my training on how to react to foreign police officers who were cross training with the British police and not informed deliberately about my being allowed my weapon on open carry rules"

"That...actually makes sense when you think about it"

"Yes, it does indeed make sense"

"Now then, how are Barricade and his sparklings doing?"

"His sparklings as you know full well are growing up fast, they've recently started to take their Energon from a cube, nine months behind normal sparklings but all things considered I'll take it, as for Barricade he's been declared clean and is no longer going to be monitored for a seizure disorder"

"Has he finally stopped being so overprotective around all the humans except me and Captain Faireborn?"

"Yes, but honestly you can't blame him considering what he endured during his carrying period and also that incident while you were away for summer"

"They're nine months old, three months old when I was at summer camp...okay yeah it's only been six months since that incident, as I remember the story you were worse with me when I was two years old"

Barricade had entered the room with his sparklings and spoke up

"Actually, I haven't told anyone this but shortly after Korra was stuck in Britain there was another incident between my sparklings and some EDC officers, just as I was starting to relax as well, it's why it's taken this long for me to calm down again"

"Barricade..."

"Sorry, I know I should have reported the incident but they promised they wouldn't do it again if I promised to keep silent however..."

"Did they just break their word?"

"Quite the opposite really, just yesterday they told me that they were going to self report today to Captain Faireborn and that I can tell you guys myself"

A few days later the officers behind the newest incident involving Barricade's sparklings were sentenced to relatively light punishments only due to Barricade vouching for them, and part of the punishment was actually helping Barricade teach his sparklings about the world outside of the base since he had decided that they were finally old enough to start exploring more than just where the Cybertronians lived, granted they were still right next to Barricade and they were also still on EDC property, but they were exposed to grass, plants, animals and the sun for the first time ever

"Barricade...why wait so long to bring them outside?"

"Scared to really...between the carrier bond making them feel everything that happened to me in a very short period of time after delivery and their own bodies acting more like a human baby's I was perhaps a little  _too_  cautious about bringing them outside, they were so sick after the incident when they were three months old that I..."

"You acted just like a human mother would have acted, it's okay we understand now...and we'll help the rest of the base learn what to do around the sparklings...especially since we have no clue about Mirage or Punch's whereabouts due to their top secret missions...if they're ever captured and experimented on like you were and forced to have sparklings as well..."

"Than the base will have to already know how to act around sparklings that are delivered just like a human baby is delivered, so you've been told about Cybertronian carrying periods then"

"And the fact that the sparklings are better protected in a built protoform instead of one grown inside a body for about nine months"

"True"

"By the way, I heard a rumor recently"

"Oh...what was it?"

"That you've been doing more training recently, and something about patrol as well"

"Ah...well they're not completely accurate, but I have been regaining my strength and have recently been allowed back on light duty, and I do mean light, no more than two hours of paperwork in one sitting period and no more than one hour of monitor duty during the entire work day, considering that these guys are still pretty dependent on me it makes sense"

"So...they're building you back up to normal duties finally"

"Yes, now that I have been declared free of a seizure disorder I am allowed to truly start training again, granted according to Ratchet I won't be going any where's even to fight until they're at least a year and a half old by human standards depending on several factors, due to our longevity they won't be considered younglings for many of your decades, full adulthood is several of your centuries, almost a millennia to be honest"

"That's fast all things considered then in regards to you being allowed back on duty, so they're going to be dependent on you for a long time then huh?"

"Yes...speaking of their dependence...is there some place private we can go briefly?...I'm...getting extremely uncomfortable and need to take care of something"

"Come on, I know a warehouse that's currently empty since the last of the contents were just shipped out yesterday and we wait two days before using them again"

They go to the warehouse and as soon as the door is closed and Barricade is sitting against a wall he opens his chest and starts feeding his sparklings. Fifteen minutes later he was finished with feeding his sparklings and they were back outside heading back to Cybertronian headquarters

"So...is that part of why you're being kept from the front lines for so long?"

"Yes...they're...still not able to take their Energon from a cube yet, at least not consistently, or at all really, we told Korra they're starting to take Energon from a cube, what we didn't tell her is that they can only handle three to five sips before they bring it back up for some reason, Ratchet is working on trying to find out why that is right now, but until we can get them to do so they depend on me for their Energon"

"They're not pretty dependent on you, they're still completely dependent, if something happens to you they die"

"Pretty much now that I think about it"

"Brings back memories with Korra?"

"Yes...yes it does indeed bring back memories of Korra's early years"

"She's nine years old now...time sure does fly by at times doesn't it"

"Yes...yes it does, and while it takes forever in the eyes of humans, my sparklings will be grown up before I know it"

"We'll be long dead though, Korra will never see them as adults, I highly doubt she'll live long into their youngling years, much less your equivalent of teenage years"

"No...she will not see them as adults, but she will briefly see them as teenagers considering younglings are basically teenagers for us...however they will be raised knowing her as part of the family...and maybe...maybe watch over her descendants if she ever has any children of her own one day"

"What if things had been normal for your species?"

"It would be the same...maybe slightly different in that my sparklings would probably be the equivalent of mid-teenagers by the time she will have passed away barring any unforeseen circumstances"

"Understood, well we're back at your part of the base and I have other duties to attend to"

"Understood, I'll see whoever is on shift tomorrow then"

Barricade took his sparklings back to his room to establish a new temporary pattern. A year and a half later he would be back on the ground fighting beside the rest of the Cybertronian army since after a year and two months his sparklings were finally taking their Energon by cube, Ratchet having ultimately discovered that the sparklings needed special antibodies and nanites produced by Barricade for the first fourteen months of their lives due to how they came into the world, it would take another four months for them to do it consistently though, but they managed. By the time they were younglings his sparklings were well used to their carrier leaving at the sound of a siren, or even sometimes just leaving at the orders of either Prime or Galvatron and coming home injured more often than not. When they became adults they too joined the Cybertronian army, when that happened though Barricade retired completely having partially retired late in their teenage years due to injuries given to him on the battlefield when they were the equivalent of twelve year olds, by the time they were old enough to join the military he was only called in for rare guard duty for politicians and the most urgent situations regarding the safety of Cybertron as a whole. His children on the other had would indeed watch out for Korra's descendants considering them family having remembered Korra, their memories of her were admittedly vague but it was enough on their own to want to do so, that the rest of the family shared pictures and stories about Korra had simply reinforced that their decision was the right one, since the family admitted part of why they didn't really remember Korra was that she died several decades before they would have entered their youngling stage in an attack, however thanks to the backing of Mirage's sparklings (which at the time the officers were on punishment detail no one knew about that happening) they discovered that starting at the point where they had been around for five human years they started having their own memories truly begin and make strong connections if they were surrounded by someone either constantly or at the very least pretty frequently, even if someone died before the sparklings reached their youngling years

_Meanwhile back in the present_


	12. Chapter 12

Korra had a normal rest of the school year if you included helping Barricade with his little ones a few times during a bad storm and three different minor attacks as normal, but then she went overseas again during the summer, this time to temporarily get away from the life she lived as an EDC kid and more immediately life as the only human adopted daughter of the Cybertronians. She was a month into her vacation when she heard about an airplane crash, as such Korra, knowing about how crash sites were scavenged for parts in that area of the world made sure to be one of the first ones there and immediately grabbed both black boxes and several other components that she could safely carry in three different bags, and then once in her temporary accommodations simply waited to find out about the plane, which airline it was from and who needed the black boxes, once she found out it was from Germany and that the German aviation investigators were the ones investigating the crash and were also looking for the black boxes, she checked to see the address that she needed to mail it to and once carefully packaged so that there was no damage from travel mailed the boxes to Germany

*Sir, we have several unknown packages for us*

*Very well, open them up*

The Germans opened the box to see a lot of packaging materials in each

*Okay, this is a lot of packaging material*

*Could whoever sent it not want the contents to be damaged in travel?*

*Possible, but what could...let's take care of the packaging material, I think I know what we have and if it's what I think it is than we might just have a break in the case*

They eventually manage to take care of all the packaging materials and see the coveted black boxes, in as pristine condition as they could be from the crash, plus the other pieces as well

*The black boxes, and a few other pieces as well but who...*

*There's a note sir*

The investigator reads the note from Kerenai who had deliberately written it so that they knew who it was from

*Dear investigators I know that this is going to hopefully break the case wide open for you, I did the best I could to prevent damage during travel but if I have failed at least I tried, I know that you were hoping to find the black boxes at the crash site but with my knowledge of the area I knew that if I hadn't taken the black boxes the chances would have been slim to non existent that you would have either found these, or found these as undamaged as possible from such a crash, by the way I don't want any reward for rescuing a key piece of evidence about the crash, at least not any monetary reward, the best reward you can give me is by using what you can from the black boxes to solve this mystery and hopefully make flying even safer through your recommendations, and if nothing else at least give closure to the grieving families, P.S. the other pieces I managed to salvage are just in case the black boxes don't completely hold the answers you need, thus why I tried to prevent travel damage to them as well signed Kerenai*

The investigator finishes reading the note out loud and then speaks softly to himself

*Thank you Kerenai*

Several months later the investigation is finished and the black boxes do indeed help them figure out the mystery of the crash, as thanks for her help in rescuing the black boxes which ultimately helped the investigation she got a personal copy of the report signed by the investigators that had worked on the case. She also received a letter with an explanation that the other pieces that she salvaged were ultimately not needed in the investigation but only because through the black boxes they discovered the critical pieces and those had been collected during the first days of the investigation team being on the crash site

_Meanwhile still on vacation_

"Well all I can do now is wait and see if I've helped the investigation any, now then...time to continue being a tourist for another week and then...then it's back to the school grind"

A week later Korra was back home, that weekend the police asked Korra for help with a special test, they wanted to test their drug dogs in various locations during the day and asked Korra if she would take drug samples into the nearby mall and hide various drugs around the mall including on her person, either actually in a pocket on her clothes or in her bag that she always had, they also mentioned that the mall was already aware of the test and as such she had permission for the drugs to be on her person for the duration of the test only

"I need to ask my family, after everything that's happened recently..."

"Of course, let us know by the end of the day?"

"Sure"

Korra goes home and explains the situation to her family who give her permission to help the police with the training

"However...we need to do surprise training on the police ourselves and as such you're not just going to be hiding the drugs for them"

"What...exactly are you going to do?"

"They test their dogs with human drugs however...there's a possibility that drugs from other planets are starting to reach Earth, we're not entirely certain about that but the EDC has been exposed to alien drugs more frequently over the past few years, as such we need to start testing and seeing if drug dogs can detect drugs from other planets"

"And if they can't you're going to offer training for them to be able to do exactly that"

"Exactly...Korra if the drugs from other planets do reach Earth there could be mass epidemics that wouldn't be understood"

"Fine...but  _you_  are going to explain what's going on after the training is done"

"But of course, we'll mention it's part of our surprise training, we do it to them in other areas already so they know that we could test them at any time, this will just be the first time it's happened with drugs is all"

Korra goes to the police mentioning that her family gave her permission to help the police, but also made sure to keep the fact that they themselves were going to be undergoing a Cybertronian test a secret. The next day Korra was given the human drugs to spread around the mall which she did, making sure to keep some in her bag and on her person, she also spread the drugs that her family had given her around the mall and kept some on her person as well, making sure that the alien drugs had been deposited first. An hour later Korra was in the food court when one of the drug dogs came up to her and indicated on her bag and on her as well

"Miss, can you come with us for a moment?"

"Sure"

Once in a security room she revealed that she was one of the testers

"Okay...before this goes any further I should mention that your department asked for my help in testing the drug dogs"

"Oh...okay...well then that's alright than and you're not in trouble"

"I have a question, have the dogs indicated on all the drugs?"

"Yes, in the food court with you, in a bookstore, a toy store, and five different trash bins"

(Sighs) "You missed some then...not too surprising I'll admit but I was hoping"

"What do you mean?"

"I'll show you the drugs you missed and then we need to go back to the station for full explanations"

Korra then goes to a pet store, a clothing department and a sports department and revealed where she had hidden more drugs, and also revealed that they hadn't discovered all the drugs on her person or in her bag. Once at the station the drug officers found out that the EDC and more specifically the Cybertronians had done a test to see if they could detect alien drugs...they failed the test but like Korra had said it wasn't too surprising considering the dogs weren't trained on alien drugs

"So you're going to train us on how to detect these new drugs?"

"Yes, there's a possibility that you'll be exposed to them on the street over the next few years and it's better to know how to find them now instead of when it's too late"

"You have a point...okay let's do it, even though this is going to take some time"

"First off you need to make an important decision...do you want all the dogs trained in detecting alien drugs, or have specifically chosen dogs?"

"That's...actually something we need to discuss, because there are pros and cons to both"

"There's something else we need you to decide...we want your bomb squad to also detect alien explosives"

" _That_  we already know the whole squad will have to do, can't take any chances on that one"

"Very well than that's what we'll do, let us know once you have a decision on the drug dogs, we'll start with the bomb squad until than and then split our focus between the two groups"

Suddenly they hear an explosion outside but before Korra could do anything Optimus spoke up

"Korra you are to remain here"

"But Optimus I can fight"

" _No_  Korra, you are...K'nish'thlan, you already know this, but this time...this time there is no back up, you need to stay"

"Tch fine...but you had  _better_  let me know when it's over"

"Will do"

Once her family left the officers looked to her in askance, because normally they would not ask for translation of a Cybertronian conversation, or even Cybertronian words used in an English conversation since sometimes what was being said had no decent translation between the languages and as such a Cybertronian word was needed to substitute for an English word, but this time, it seemed important that they got even a rough translation

"Okay...what did he just call you?"

"There's...not a translation per se, the closest you could come to is 'one who is both soldier and family leader for war and peace', but even then...that's not a good comparison...a slightly more accurate comparison might be 'one who is full clan leader', but basically if the three leaders go down I am the leader of an entire  _planet_  at only age nine, even if there are citizens on Earth as well"

"Um...should you have told us that?"

"Considering that if they die I'm the primary liaison yes, look you have to understand that with the help of the American military primarily, and the joining of other countries soon after my family created the EDC, as such they're technically the de facto leaders of the EDC as well, it's just that Captain Faireborn is the person who runs the day to day operations and is the face of the EDC, but if it's needed she takes orders from the Primes and Galvatron"

"Understood, so what now?"

"Now we all stay inside, and I know how to keep everyone inside and safe, dual Arranyan shields"

No one notices anything until suddenly one of the enemies tries to take a shot at them and there's no damage to the door

"Nice...can we shoot back?"

"Nope, nothing goes in or out of my dual Arranyan shields, which I can keep up for most of the day without any consequences"

"Now that's not fair, we want to fight too"

"Sorry...no can do with what's currently happening outside"

"Fine"

Eventually the fighting is over and Korra finds out that everything ended well on her family's side...the enemy not so much. Soon enough she was ten years old and was starting to learn how to combine her powers with her self defense style because she had kept both sides separate deliberately but now Captain Faireborn was seeing that Korra needed to fully integrate both for full effectiveness in regards to her truly knowing self defense, and she was getting frustrated

"Captain Faireborn these continuing lessons are pointless!"

"Are they Korra?"

" _Yes_ , I have yet to succeed in integrating my abilities with my fighting style, in fact every time I have tried so far I get hurt by the training robots, the  _only_  reason I haven't gotten seriously injured is a combination of the fact that we keep them at a lower level and I have switched to using one or the other as the fight progresses. Continuing these lessons, much less having me put them into practice is going to get me  _killed_. My two forms of protection are simply unable to coexist"

"Korra...Korra I know you're frustrated, I also know you haven't seen much if any progress, but I tell you that there actually is"

"Oh really?"

"Cut the sarcasm, and yes there really is...who was guarding the triplets the other day when Galvatron was forced to have Barricade take positions just outside the safety of the walls of the base?"

"Me, seeing as how everyone else was occupied"

"Yes...and some of the attackers got past our outer defenses, what you  _weren't_  aware of was the fact that I was also in the same room, the last line of defense for  _your_  protection, even with your powers to help you, what did you do when some of the attackers managed to get close?"

"I started using Karate on them"

"Yes...what you didn't notice but I did was that you were also subconsciously using your powers to enhance your attacks on the enemy, now what we need to do is work on that so that you can  _consciously_ use your powers at the same time you are using your Karate"

"Okay, one more time...I can do this one more time today than I need to stop"

"Understood"

It would take Korra a year ultimately to fully integrate her powers and Karate, but she would succeed, during that time she was also starting to be taught more about what the rest of her family did with one exception that was unfortunately necessary (Wheeljack and admittedly tried to teach her safely, but he was simply too prone to explosions and only Korra's powers saved her from serious injury), they also started to let her fight more often whenever she wasn't at school. One day she was with Prowl when suddenly they were attacked by an unknown enemy and as such they called for backup, fifteen minutes later everyone was headed back to base with various injuries, Prowl being the worst off having been hit five minutes before the end of the battle in the middle of his back

_Five minutes earlier_

"Prowl! Arranyan winds! and for good measure...multiple explosions!"

Korra threw her necklace at the enemy and the ensuing explosions are what ultimate force the enemy to retreat allowing Ratchet to make emergency repairs on Prowl

"We need to get him back to base,  _now_ "

"Understood, everyone back to base!"

Three hours later Ratchet declared Prowl stable and mentioned that he would completely recover in a few days, after hearing that Barricade is the first one to speak up

"Instant temporary babysitter than if he's released tomorrow"

"Barricade?"

"Sorry Primes, Galvatron, forgot to tell you earlier that I just received word from an informant that they want to talk to me about something, part of that is because I got the message right before battle, and since they're only willing to meet with me, and that's something that sparklings shouldn't be around I need a babysitter who is unable to be put into danger while I take care of this"

"Okay then...and he will be released tomorrow, the main issue is that I took away his doorwings while they're repaired and he also managed to strain his back somehow, which is the reason I am keeping him overnight since he's currently on our version of muscle relaxants"

"Understood Ratchet...is he even awake right now?"

"Nope, had to knock him out to remove the doorwings and while it's a short term sedation he'll still be out of it for another two hours at the very least"

"Hey Ratchet...am I able to start learning medicine on you guys now?"

"Yes Korra, you can start learning how to help us, beginning with Prowl actually, now it's not going to be much admittedly but you are going to start learning, beginning with telling the difference between a sedated patient, a sleeping patient and an awake patient, because the monitors have different readings for each scenario...oh and one more thing, I already saw most of you guys, but Red Alert never came in and you know full well that when someone is that seriously injured I want  _all_  bond members checked"

"Just a sec Ratchet" (bond) /Red Alert, it's Jazz, Ratchet is telling us you need to get to medbay for your mandatory bond check...Red Alert...Red Alert speak to me...Red Alert!/ (out loud) "he's not answering, someone needs to find out why and soon...I don't feel anything off in the bond but..."

Inferno was the one sent to check on Red Alert and what he found deeply concerned everyone because Red Alert was unconscious and it also appeared that he had been wounded in the fight and not mentioned it. Later they would discover that Red Alert had only had minor wounds that would normally take care of themselves, however this time what went wrong was that as one of the first members of the seven bond family he distracted the enemy and also took in as much of Prowl's pain as he could onto himself, between constantly being in pain already and concentrating on the fight he hadn't realized that he was wounded in battle and simply decided to go to the rec room for some Energon before retreating to his quarters for rest, unfortunately he would never make his quarters having passed out in the hallway close to his quarters. The next day Prowl was released while Red Alert was forced to remain for another day still on Energon infusions due to him slowly bleeding out, which allowed Korra the means to learn how to tell when someone was finished with Energon infusions or when another infusion was needed since she already knew how to tell when her family needed Energon in the first place (that she had been forced to learn when she was only three and Prowl, Red Alert, Blaster and Astrotrain all came back from a mission from Cybertron almost completely drained of energy). Six months later Korra was in the medbay for a lesson in medicine when suddenly Ratchet's voice took on a deadly soft tone while he was doing routine check ups with the crew and was currently working on Prowl


	13. Chapter 13

 

 

 

"Prowl open your chest plate please, I need to take a closer look at your spark chamber"

After several agonizing minutes Ratchet allowed Prowl to close up his chest and then turned his attention to Jazz who was there for his own check up

"Jazz, I need you to call the rest of your brothers through your bond while I contact the Primes and Galvatron"

//Guys Ratchet wants to talk to everyone in the med bay now//

::Optimus, Rodimus, Galvatron I need you in the med bay, now::

Ten minutes later everyone was gathered wondering what was going on, Korra had tried to leave but Ratchet insisted she stay since it concerned her as well in a way

"I need to know if any of you have noticed something different in the bond lately"

"Yeah, Sunstreaker and I have both noticed, it's why we've been staying close by lately"

"And the others?"

"They wouldn't have, because even though we've had the bond for millions of years as twins we have the most control over the bond as long as it doesn't involve one of us, we've been shielding the others since we first noticed, why?"

Ratchet sighs at that

"Do you guys remember the last battle six months ago?"

"Ratchet what's going on?"

"In a moment Rodimus, right now I need to know if everyone remembers the battle"

Everyone affirmed that they remembered the battle

"Turns out that Prowl received spark damage, and it's slowly killing him"

Prowl speaks up before anyone else since this concerned him the most with the situation happening to him

"How long Ratchet?"

"I estimate that if something isn't done you'll be gone in six months, and though it won't seem like it initially it's going to be a slow agonizing death for you"

"What will happen?"

"It will start off with general weakness, gradually getting to the point of seizures, by the time five months are done you'll most likely be confined to medbay simply to stay alive just a little longer, but it will eventually get to the point where even I can't stop the process and even if I put you in a medically induced coma the end will be excruciating, you'll  _feel_  pain in your whole body even while in stasis even if it should be medically impossible"

"Is there anything that can slow the process down while we search for answers as to how to reverse this if it's even possible?"

(Sighs) "there might be a way, but it's extremely risky and even if it does buy us time it would probably only buy us an extra two months at the most...basically what I'm saying is that if we can't find a permanent way to reverse this Prowl won't live to see the end of the year, he might not even live to see Korra's twelfth Christmas"

"Ratchet, the way you're talking makes me believe you think there might be a way to reverse this"

"That's because I do believe so Optimus, this spark damage wasn't caused by natural means, but by a weapon which introduced a virus basically that triggered after a certain period of time that slowly causes the spark damage, at least that's the best I can get from my scans"

"So if we can find the schematics of said weapon..."

"We might be able to use the schematics to reverse the damage, or at the very least stop it in it's tracks"

"What will happen if the damage can be stopped but not reversed?"

"I can't say right now, it all depends on the stage we can stop the damage from progressing any further"

"And the method to buy us more time?"

"Seven way family spark merge for a solid month to keep the bond at full strength, or strengthen it at need, however the reason why it's risky is because of the chance that Prowl can pass the virus on to the rest of you through the spark merge"

"NO! I won't let them risk it for my life to be extended"

"Oh no you don't Prowl..."

"Bluestreak..."

"Excuse me, but I believe I haven't finished, not to mention this is still my medbay, now then as I was saying there's a risk that Prowl can pass the virus on to the rest of you, but there's also a slim possibility that it won't happen, either way I want you guys to discuss this in private and give me an answer in two weeks when you've really talked and thought this through, for now though everyone but Jazz is dismissed, Jazz I still need to do my check up on you"

Jazz was cleared medically and then the group  _talked_  for the two weeks they were given, the first initial few ended in shouting matches, mostly Prowl shouting at the rest of the group and the rest of the group simply not giving in, though they also shouted a few times, but by the end of the third day they were all worn down and had dealt with the initial emotions enough to become rational beings again who could talk civilly with each other. They weighed the pros and cons of each decision and finally after the two week period came up with a compromise that they would talk to Ratchet about

"Have you made a decision?"

"Yes, but we're not sure if you'll go with it"

"What's the decision?"

"For the first week only Smokescreen will merge with me, after that everyone will join in for the rest of the month, with you checking Smokescreen every day after the merge to make sure that the virus isn't passed on through merging, this ways if that  _is_  how the virus is passed on at least only one other person will die from this virus"

"And if it's delayed like yours was?"

"No, if it's now detectable than there's no more delays, if the virus is passed on the person who receives it next will have it detectable immediately"

"Very well, why not Jazz?"

"He's Third-in-Command and Bluestreak is our sniper, the twins are too vulnerable and you know what could happen if a virus is introduced to Red Alert"

"Understood"

A week later Smokescreen was in the clear so the rest started to merge regularly for the rest of the month hoping that it would buy them more time to find the weapon

_Second month_

Prowl was simply heading to the rec room for Energon when suddenly he felt very tired, fortunately for him he wasn't alone and Mirage helped him the rest of the way and also got his Energon for him, the rest of the group had felt his sudden exhaustion and knew that meant that the virus had begun in earnest and their efforts had failed. Ratchet had explained that as soon as Prowl started feeling sudden exhaustion it would slowly yet at the same time quickly progress, with the exhaustion initially being once every other day to constant exhaustion by the end of the third month

_Third month_

Prowl was now constantly exhausted and confined to desk duty, with everyone making sure he fueled on a regular basis despite knowing that it wouldn't really help matters. The rest of the Cybertronians were not aware of just how serious things actually were, though they did know that Prowl was sick due to the search teams that were sent out on a regular basis, but those teams were sworn to secrecy, the only other notice was his exhaustion being noticed by the rest of the crew since Prowl had fallen asleep more than once refueling in the rec room, or a few times during meetings with them in his office. He was also having subtle tremors that were minuet enough that only he noticed, though initially when he tremors started he paused long enough once to be called out on it

"Prowl, are you tired to the point that I should help you to your quarters and we need to finish this meeting later?"

"No, sorry Starscream I just have a lot on my mind right now"

"Understandable"

_Fourth month_

Prowl was simply sitting in the rec room watching some of the other crew members set up a party for Korra when suddenly he had a seizure, with Thundercracker being the one to notice seeing as how he had turned to ask Prowl if he wanted to help by blowing up some of the balloons

::Ratchet! I need you in the Rec room  _now_ , Prowl is having a seizure!::

Ratchet, having been in the med bay quickly gets to the rec room and notices that Prowl was just finishing with the seizure so all he did was monitor how long it took for Prowl to basically come back to them

"Prowl can you hear me...Prowl?...hey there...come on you have an appointment with me"

"Ratchet...did I?...did I have a seizure?"

(Sighs) "I'm afraid so Prowl, come on I need to check you out and then everyone needs to talk about what's going to happen next"

Ratchet wasn't too surprised to find everyone but Smokescreen and the three leaders already at the med bay, and knew that the only reason Smokescreen wasn't there was because he had been out on assignment in the nearby town for their relations. An hour later everyone had come to an agreement about the next step in their plan both in dealing with the rest of the Cybertronian army and personally in regards to Prowl's treatment

"Everyone we have an announcement to make, as some of you know today Prowl our Second-in-command had a seizure, that seizure is because Prowl...is dying, due to damage done to his spark in the last battle he participated in he has slowly been dying for the past four months and will be gone in the next two months, this is why there have been search teams constantly sent out, they have been looking for the weapon that caused the damage so that we could have hopefully cured Prowl, however with the fact that his seizures have started we are ending that search since Ratchet has designated that as the point of no return. Once the last search teams have returned they will be informed of the fact that their mission has ended and will be allowed to say goodbye to Prowl in private like the rest of you will be able to do so"

"Due to the fact that Prowl is now having seizures he is being placed on terminal leave and will be confined to the med bay for the rest of his time, this is a decision the entire group came to together as the safest option for Prowl, Ratchet told us initially that once the seizures started he would have to give up his duties but otherwise would be able to interact with the rest of the crew for another month, but the group as a whole decided it was safer if he was in a place he would be constantly monitored in since the rest of the small group still has missions to do"

"We ask that you give the other six time and space if they ask for it, and do not take it out on them for keeping it a secret from the beginning, it was their decision to act as normal as possible for as long as possible"

Everyone ultimately dealt with the news of Prowl dying in various ways, all the fliers went on an insane suicidal flight deliberately slamming into three different mountains flying around the world going until they simply couldn't any longer, with Ratchet not having the heart to scream at them for their stupidity knowing they were taking things hard, Omega Supreme shut down for a whole week in a place no one knew about, the ground troops had drastically different coping methods amongst themselves going from simply trying to poison themselves with high-grade to throwing themselves into their work even harder in the memory of Prowl, for Barricade he had it the hardest due to his triplets needing to be told in words they understood, and that was on top of his emotions slipping through his carrier bond allowing them to sometimes feel the depth of his grief at the impending loss of Prowl. Barricade ultimately needed to have another person take care of his triplets for three days while he pulled himself back together in the privacy of his quarters and once in the town with some police officers by his side who understood in a way what he was feeling. The six remaining members of the bond also dealt with it differently from the rest of the army in that they did their best to pick up the slack for everyone else including Prowl, but otherwise acting like they always had already having the time that the army hadn't to accept the loss of Prowl

_Month five_

Out in space one of the final search teams had finally discovered the schematics of the weapon used on Prowl

"Let's just hope we're not too late and Prowl is still with us by the time we get back to Earth"

"Agreed, he's running out of time, he's probably near the point of having the seizures"

They get back to Earth in two weeks and are personally greeted by Galvatron

"Galvatron we..."

Galvatron stopped them with one hand

"The searches are to be stopped, Prowl is confined to med bay and on an Energon drip, Ratchet will be putting Prowl into stasis by the end of the week. A month ago he started having his seizures and it has been getting worse ever since"

"Galvatron that makes it even more important that we reveal our findings to you and to Ratchet, we..."

"No!...no you are to say your goodbyes before it's too late, the rest of the search teams have come home and have done so, as has the rest of the base"

The group realizes that Galvatron and most likely the Primes were at the point of no longer being able to hear anything in regards to the searches done for Prowl so they simply went to the med bay to spend time with Prowl and say their potential goodbyes knowing that if Prowl was going into stasis soon their might not be enough time for Ratchet and the rest of the medical and science team to analyze the weapon

"Hey Prowl we...we just wanted to say it's been an honor serving with you"

"I...know...sorry...about...this..."

Prowl suddenly had another seizure which had the entire medical team scrambling to take care of him, it also gave the search team the opportunity to slip the schematics into Ratchet's office in secret, as they left they heard the one thing they were hoping to avoid hearing from Ratchet by not being there at the time of the declaration

(Sighs) "OK guys, it's time to put him into stasis even though it won't do much good at least...at least this ways even though he'll feel pain he will no longer be seizing"

The group leaves and Ratchet puts Prowl into stasis. The rest of the small family instantly felt when that happened and all of them had to be dismissed from their posts if they were on duty, the Primes and Galvatron were informed that Prowl had been put into stasis several days early and secluded themselves into their offices. Ratchet himself stayed by Prowl's side for two hours before finally going back to his office to write his daily report on Prowl's condition and to notate the final care stages had begun, before he could write his report though he noticed a data chip on his desk and inserted it thinking it was the medical report from the final search team, only to find that it was something completely different and unexpected

"It can't be...this is..."

::Primes! Galvatron! Jazz! Red Alert! Sunstreaker! Sideswipe! Bluestreak! Smokescreen! I need you in the medbay now!::

Five minutes later everyone was in the medbay

"What is it Ratchet?"

"Look, this is what the last search team brought"

The rest of the group looked at the screen and were shocked that it was the schematics for the weapon that had been killing Prowl for the last five months

"Is there still time Ratchet?"

"Until his spark extinguishes there is always time"

"But you said..."

"I know, but from what I can tell just by looking at the schematics my estimates were wrong, I need to get these to Wheeljack, Hook and Perceptor so that we can get to work on hopefully curing Prowl"

The rest of the month was spent with the medical and science team pouring over those schematics 24/7 in shifts, but they knew they were quickly running out of time since by the beginning of the sixth month they were losing Prowl every other day, they hadn't realized that his spark going out from pain was part of the reason why he would be feeling pain even in stasis. They brought him back every time but it was getting harder and harder to do so. Fortunately half way through the sixth month they had a possible cure to try

"Let's hope this works because if it doesn't..."

"If it doesn't this was our only shot wasn't it?"

"Yes, if it doesn't work it will kill Prowl"

The cure was a device hooked directly to his spark sending an electrical pulse as a signal to the virus that it had done it's job and could dissipate. After an hour everyone thought it had failed though and while Ratchet left the device in he turned the spark monitor into recording mode not wanting to hear Prowl's spark go out, which meant that the equipment would record when Prowl died but Ratchet would not get an alert, and locked the medbay until morning since it was late at night when they tried the device, also making sure to key the lock to his signature so that First Aid and the rest of the medical team wouldn't be faced with Prowl's gray body signifying death, he wanted to be the only one to see Prowl in that state. The other six members of the family bond also shut his part of the bond out not wanting to feel his final death, having felt his spark go out and return too many times in the past two and a half weeks, Prowl himself had wanted that at the beginning of his seizures but they had refused wanting to stay with him until the very end not realizing at the time that there would be multiple spark failures before the final end. Early, very early the next morning a very weak spark started pulsing much stronger than before and a very soft glow would have been seen for the briefest of moments before the whole medbay went dark again. An hour after sunrise Ratchet came into the medbay and started unhooking Prowl from all the medical devices attached to him, not even noticing that Prowl still had his colors when right after he unhooked the device that was supposed to cure Prowl he heard a soft moan, (he was leaving the spark monitor for last due to not wanting to take it out until the last possible moment signifying defeat) Ratchet ignored the initial moan but when he heard it again right before going for the spark monitor he actually stilled and watched Prowl, actually seeing Prowl's hand twitch and his head move

(Softly) "impossible"

Ratchet, instead of taking off the spark monitor actually turned it on and the monitor showed Prowl's spark beating stronger than before and Prowl himself opened his optics again very briefly by what would have been his standards but a long hopeful time by Ratchet's before offlining again but that was all Ratchet needed to get on his comms

::First Aid! Hook! Primes! Galvatron! Jazz! Red Alert! Sunstreaker! Sideswipe! Bluestreak! Smokescreen! I need you to wake up and in the medbay now!::

More than one Cybertronian cursed softly at the rude awaking, however at the same time six Cybertronians rudely woken up knew that they shouldn't have been and tentatively opened Prowl's part of the bond open and a flood of feelings rushed through and  _that_  more than anything woke them up instantly and scrambling to get to the medbay, many of them a mass of limbs since they had started taking to sleeping together as much as possible, only Jazz wasn't part of a pile and that was because they had also had times where they wanted to be as alone as possible in the two and a half months since Prowl's final decline and that included sleeping, and this was Jazz's turn due to the fact that he had been with Prowl right before the last seizure that had put him into stasis, and also right before the cure had been attempted. By the time the three leaders and six members of the family bond were there Prowl was hooked back up to an Energon drip and minor damage from the seizures being taken care of (Prowl had refused injuries from the seizures to be taken care of and once in stasis the medical team didn't have the heart to continue to deny him being emotionally worn from having to take care of Prowl for so long, not to mention Prowl's instructions while he was still of sound mind to use whatever they could from his body to repair those injured once in stasis, it was just luck that his instructions hadn't been needed despite what the fliers and other Cybertronians had done to themselves). The most damage that actually still had to be taken care of besides the spark damage was the damage done to his Energon processing center and his tanks. However they weren't going to do that quite yet for one very good reason that Ratchet had waited everyone to be there for

"The device worked, Prowl's spark is getting stronger however...until we know how much damage is reversed I am hesitant on dealing with his Engergon processing center and his tanks, if he ultimately still has seizures..."

"We understand Ratchet, we'll deal with that when the time comes, if it comes"

Though it would take another two months Prowl ultimately made a near complete recovery, his Energon processing center and tanks had been repaired within the first month, however it had been discovered that there had ultimately been permanent damage done in that Prowl was now mute and would always have some residual weakness in his left arm. He could hold a weapon and fight hand to hand, but holding something heavier than a cube with just his left hand for more than three minutes had his entire left arm trembling and Prowl could still use his comm system to communicate by Morse code or whenever face to face with someone he used sign language, but otherwise he would be unable to communicate, though it took a bit of work and their adoptive daughter to figure out how to get Prowl communicating again in the first place

"And there's nothing you can do to fix it Ratchet?"

"Unfortunately not, we tried replacing his voice box, however the virus was destroying his systems at the end and it did something in his actual body that makes his body reject any replacement parts for his voice box, as for the weakness it turns out that I was slightly wrong in how the virus was introduced and it actually started in his left shoulder, that damage was already permanent by the time I noticed his spark damage, the only reason I didn't take notice until after Prowl started to recover is because he checked out once I discharged him, and since after that I was waiting until the annual check up I wouldn't have known there was a problem unless he came to me, and as you know..."

"His annual check up revealed that he was dying"

"Exactly, as such I was so focused on his overall health, mostly his spark that I wasn't paying enough attention to the rest of his body until he started his physical therapy to regain his strength from being bed ridden for almost three and a half months"

"So what's the next step for him?"

(Sighs) "I honestly don't know, we can't communicate at the moment but he's going to want to be on duty soon, as for his physical therapy he's basically done, there's always going to be residual weakness but he's learned to compensate for it, I'm just going to keep him in for another week to ensure that he's truly back to full fitness otherwise we're good to go for him"

"Well for now we have a double celebration to plan, and I want to involve Prowl somehow"

"That's right, Korra essentially boycotted her birthday when it was still uncertain if Prowl would survive or not and then Christmas..."

"Exactly"

"But still...how will we be able to involve Prowl when he can't truly communicate?"

"That's something I don't know yet"

Three hours later they had their answer in the form of Jazz and the twins

"Prowl...I know you're mute but try and do more than let emotions flow through the bond...please?"

"Yeah Prowl, you know full well that Sideswipe and I communicated through our twin bond frequently, even if it seemed like we weren't saying anything, and once I was temporarily mute as well"

Everyone was silent but moments later the group watching knew that Prowl was still able to communicate through the bond

"I knew you could still do it Prowl, you just had to believe in yourself too"

"Prowl, Jazz, twins we need to talk"

The four turn to see their leaders and immediately are apprehensive

"What is it?"

"We want Prowl to help us come up with a combined birthday and Christmas celebration for Korra since she boycotted her birthday and we were unable to celebrate Christmas due to that natural disaster that everyone helped with"

"As for Christmas Korra didn't seem too upset due to the fact that she's grown up here practically her whole life, as for her birthday...it's not surprising that even after we got confirmation that Prowl would live she hasn't mentioned it, she wants Prowl to focus on recovery, which he has but I think she feels that we should just move on and simply forget about celebrating her twelfth birthday and simply continue when she turns thirteen"

Everyone knew instantly that her maturity level saddened the three leaders, Rodimus' soft, saddened voice only confirmed what the energy fields were flaring

"She's grown up too fast with us"

"Primes, Galvatron we knew it was a risk when we first decided to adopt her, however I still stand by my words back then, it's safer for everyone that we're her family...I haven't said anything but I have stopped at least fifty plots against her since we took her in, all in relation to what her parents did for me, the majority were when she was still a baby but the last plot I stopped was only two years ago, and I have kept an eye on persons of interest as well, most of them haven't done anything after they've found out about Korra, in fact a few of them, that I found out through agents, have told their groups that Korra was off limits, that the feud was with the parents and that since her parents were dead the feud was over with and any retaliation involving Korra was prohibited with serious consequences if broken. I'm like you in that I'm not particularly fond of the fact that she's grown up so fast, but I think if she was told about her true family...in it's entirety and asked if she would choose between growing up too fast and the risk of being killed at a young age, or worse made into a slave...I think she would choose her current life"

Suddenly Sunstreaker speaks up

"For now Prowl is quite right in that there's planning to be done"

With that reminder the three leaders and Prowl through Jazz and the twins planned Korra's belated twelfth birthday and Christmas celebrations. It would take three days but finally it was time to spring the surprise on Korra, starting with Red Alert asking her to come with him into town for some supplies that really were needed, but could have been delayed by a day or two

"So is this everything Red Alert?"

"I think so" (bond) //I need to know if I have to delay Korra any longer or if you're ready//

//Prowl speaking, we're not quite ready Red Alert, the cake has yet to arrive and evidence is still spread across base about what we're currently doing//

//Understood, will do something to delay then// (out loud) "This is definitely all the supplies, just got that confirmed, but Prime needs us to do one more thing first before we head back to base"

"What's that?"

"Visit the garage of some old friends who have since left us, we keep an eye on the location just in case our enemies decide to trouble it because of it's association with us"

They visit the old Witwicky garage and talked to the owners and found that they were being harassed by some Cybertronian enemies (that weren't actually enemies but that currently wasn't known) but that they were taking care of it for the most part

"Still, we'll send some people over the next time they're scheduled to arrive to make it clear that we still protect this place even if ownership has changed hands"

"Yeah...this is an emergency sub-base for you guys, we know that already since an EDC officer had need of the tech here during the recent events on Christmas"

"Yeah...sorry if it interrupted anything"

"Nah, we were closed for the holidays for the most part, just had a few emergency customers and of course we always...well you know full well what our Christmas tradition is in regards to the garage"

"True"

"What tradition?"

"Sorry Korra, that's something you will have to wait at least two more years to find out, maybe not even until you are sixteen, but that all depends on a lot of future factors"

"Okay"

Red Alert then receives the signal he had been waiting for

"Well we have to get back now, again let us know when the time comes for your problematic group and someone will be here to help deal with them"

"Thanks, and we will"

Red Alert and Korra then head back to base and Korra gets nervous once back due to just how quiet everything was, and knowing that a quiet base was an unnatural state she didn't like it and automatically accessed her powers, keeping to her shields for the moment but ready to whip out a weapon at need. When she got to the main common room she entered a new level of defensiveness having a weapon out seeing as how the room was completely dark, but suddenly the lights were on everyone suddenly came out of hiding


	14. Chapter 14

"Surprise!"

Korra jumped back slightly and then looked up to see the banner

_Banner_

"Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas!"

She dismisses the knife and then asks a very expected question

"What's going on here?"

"We know you boycotted your birthday celebration because of Prowl, you weren't sure initially if he would survive and then you wanted him to focus on healing, as for Christmas there was the natural disaster that prevented us from properly celebrating with you, as such we decided to combine both celebrations into one this time, we planned it with the help of Prowl to prove to you that he truly is better"

"But...but he's not able to be on active duty"

"We'll figure something out eventually Korra, it may simply be that he'll always have to be next to one of his brother bondmates but we'll figure something out"

"Well...for now we have a party to get started"

And with that they celebrated Korra's twelfth birthday and her twelfth Christmas all in one day, everyone there knew it wasn't the same as if it would have happened on the actual days but at least the events were properly being celebrated and that's all that mattered in their minds. When Korra was finally done (she had ultimately fallen asleep while watching a movie with her family) Galvatron was the one to clean up most of the mess this time while Faireborn and a few other EDC officers made sure that the food was properly stored

"This was good for her, she's been forced to mature at a faster rate but twice a year she's still able to be a kid...are you ever going to tell her about her real parents in full?"

"Yes, we're thinking that unless she asks about them we'll wait until she's sixteen to tell her the full story behind her adoption, she has asked us before when she was four and learning about her powers, but we gave her a much simpler explanation and kept most of the details out of the story"

"What  _exactly_  did you tell her?"

"That her parents were EDC officers killed visiting family that was also killed and that due to circumstances beyond everyone's control it was best that she came to live with us"

"Considering her age I guess that's alright, so full story at sixteen?"

"Yes, but only if she doesn't ask sooner about it"

"So you think she's mature enough?"

"Yes...she's been through too much over the past few years  _not_  to be mature enough"

"Barricade's situation...all the fights...Britain and that situation...Prowl's situation...yeah you're right"

"As it is we're thinking about asking the government for an age exemption and have her start learning to fly at thirteen"

"You guys are insane if you think the government will go for that"

"You got any better ideas considering the current state we're in?"

"...no I don't" (sighs) "fine you win, but don't think the fight will be as easy with the government"

"Oh, we already know that and will be starting our own fight within the next few days"

"By the way, I didn't see Barricade or his triplets"

"All four of them are in the medbay, Lua caught a virus and it spread to her siblings and her carrier, it's not particularly dangerous but I want to keep them under observation since the triplets are still so young, as for Barricade when the virus hits adults they get hit harder than sparklings and younglings and it takes longer for them to recover, between that and the fact that right now he can't keep down Energon and they're stuck under medical supervision"

"So basically what you're saying is that it won't kill them but they'll be miserable while the virus runs it's course"

"Exactly, they should be recovered in about three to four days"

"By the way Marissa we need to  _talk_  soon about an upcoming event"

"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate it when you put emphasis on words, especially that specific word in regards to duty?"

"Yes, unfortunately it's needed on occasion"

"True, still not fond of it"

Three days later the Primes and Galvatron started the fight with the government to let Korra start learning how to fly once she turned thirteen and then two months later they and Captain Faireborn talked about an intergalactic conference that was a first, plus what was happening in regards to the old Witwicky garage. When that time came several EDC officers were there for the confrontation and told the group in no uncertain terms that the garage had a personal connection with the EDC and that they would never allow harassment, though it turned out what was really going on was that the aliens wanted to do a business transaction to buy the garage, the problem was miscommunication, through the EDC once that was discovered helped both sides come to a compromise that they could work with. The current owners kept the garage while the group that was causing trouble would be allowed to work out of it as well and paid a portion of the bills as rent, in the hopes that if they proved worthy they would eventually have co-ownership depending on how well the two groups got along with each other

"So...I have a question"

"What Korra?"

"Why wasn't I involved in the negotiations?"

"You know full well why you weren't involved"

"Uh-huh...right...and what happens if I have to deal with intergalactic politics suddenly because of the fact that I am K'nish'thlan?"

(Sighs) "I know you have a valid point Korra, but this time we had another reason not to involve you"

"And what reason might that be?"

"The fact that there was a  _very_  good chance of them being enemies that you're not ready to face yet"

"Oh, what kind of enemies?"

That's when Jazz takes over

"The kind that would have killed you along with your birth parents without hesitation"

"My...birth...parents...they had enemies that strong?"

"Yes"

"Could you...could you tell me about them? I mean really tell me instead of what you told me when I asked when I was about four"

"Yes, we can tell you about them in entirety now, you've been old enough for several months to at least a year"

And so Jazz tells Korra the entire truth about her birth parents, how they were two of his top human operatives and the enemies they had made over the years, how her parents had died with her uncle and even told her some stories of their time as his agents, also remembering to let her know that some of her parents enemies had deliberately declared her off limits and as such it was another layer of protection, unexpected though it was it was also welcomed

"I wish I had known them"

"So do we Korra, but at least...at least their daughter is growing up into a fine young lady...you know I can see some of your mom in you at times"

"How?"

"Her inner strength...you got some of that I think"

"How would you know though? I thought all your interactions were through correspondence?"

"Not quite true, we did have the occasional face to face interaction, though it was and for all my remaining human agents still is very infrequent for their own safety"

"Were any others as good as my parents?"

"Actually yes there was a team that was even  _better_  than your parents, but only just, sadly they died around the time your mom had you due to poison, I changed policies after that because of them"

"Could you take me to visit my parents graves?"

"Yes, we can"

Korra visits her parents graves and simply spends some time thinking about what could have been. A week later Korra was doing private training in regards to using her powers without her sight when suddenly she felt an energy signature that was  _definitely_   _not_  allowed in the training room under these circumstances and so she stops her training and goes over to the comm system

::Korra to Barricade::

::Barricade here go ahead::

::Where are you?::

::In my office, why?::

::Who's your designated babysitter today?::

There's a long pause indicating private communication and then she hears a sigh

::Jazz is on his way and should be there in a few minutes, apparently she escaped while Hound was giving Jazz my mandatory babysitter reports if a changing of the guard happens before I can pick them up::

::Understood, I'll just keep her entertained until then::

Five minutes later Jazz came and picked up Lua and later that day Ratchet sent out a base wide memo stating that during recovery the triplets would be more hyperactive than normal while they got cabin fever out of there systems and as such the whole base was on sparkling watch duty until further notice. Korra, once informed of this went to the three leaders knowing that it was important to know how long this would go on

"So...how long will they be sparklings anyways?"

"Between forty to fifty Earth years"

When Korra hears that a sad revelation came upon her

"Unless I become like you guys, or I am put into cryogenic stasis I won't see them become adults, so long as I don't die at an early age I'll barely see them in their youngling years"

"No...you won't, and since we don't know exactly how many Earth years it takes for them to start remembering anyone they don't have a family bond with..."

"Right...well I have something I have to do"

And with that Korra began making videos for the triplets and later when Mirage was rescued and discovered to have sparklings of his own Korra made separate videos for Mirage's kids as well, giving the computer instructions to send the videos to Barricade and Mirage respectively once she was declared dead and then gave the two parents instructions not to give the children the videos until they thought their kids were old enough. Between the videos and her eventual descendants Korra would always be remembered by the sparklings, plus what she didn't know was that her family secretly video taped Korra whenever she was with the sparklings thus reinforcing her own videos. Meanwhile back in the present time with Korra a few days later she was at school doing Math when suddenly an announcement came on that changed everything

"Lockdown, Lockdown, Lockdown, all teachers code Orange"

When Korra and the rest of the EDC kids heard the announcement all of them prepared for the worst because while all the students knew that they were in Lockdown they weren't sure if it was a drill or not, only the teachers were properly informed if it was the real deal or not, and all EDC kids were taught the teacher codes just in case and as such all of the EDC kids prepared for a possible fight, Korra was the only one not making any noticeable preparations, but that was only because of the fact that she would use her powers to form weapons if it came down to it and knew better than to bring them out before they were needed. As for the rest of the students, part of why they were never informed it it was a drill or not was to make it realistic, the other reason was because there would be times when there wouldn't be enough time to announce it was just a drill, when that realization came the decision was made to simply announce Lockdown and then give the teachers a code, if the Principal couldn't even announce that they were in Lockdown all the teachers needed was a specific code and the teachers knew that the school was in Lockdown


	15. Chapter 15

"Okay class you know the drill"

The class got into a corner and simply waited for word that the drill was over when suddenly another teacher code was given which made everyone's blood who knew it run cold and Korra activate her powers in full

"Code black, code black, code black"

As soon as the final repeat was over most of Korra's classmates got scared and nervous all of a sudden because Korra had knives in her hands, that combined with a very low feral sounding growl wasn't good in anyone's mind including the teacher who  _tried_ to bring her back

"Kerenai, stop right now this instant...Kerenai do you hear me?...Kerenai this is an order to stop right now and put the knives away"

Korra doesn't listen though and instead speaks with a definite growl still in her voice

"Not this time ma'am, this time I  _hunt_  if I hear them, the same goes for others like me though I will admit that they might not have as effective tools"

The teacher just sighs and leaves it be realizing that Korra was basically beyond reason now and wouldn't stand down until a specific code let her know that everything was secure. Ultimately Korra and three other EDC kids would go hunting due to the fact that there were six perpetrators all spread out, the police got two while Korra and the others got the others, however there would ultimately be a price to pay to get the gunmen who had robbed a bank first, two police officers were killed, four others injured and out of the four EDC kids one was mortally wounded, they would survive being discovered as injured, they would even manage to survive the trip to the hospital and the emergency surgery that was needed, unfortunately what they wouldn't survive was the acute blood loss from the injuries combined with an infection due to the fact that the gunmen also had knives and one of them used it on the EDC kid. If it was just the infection, or just the blood loss the doctors were fighting the kid would have ultimately survived, Ratchet himself confirmed that, unfortunately both problems combined meant their body was just too weak and they would die only two days after defending their classmates

"Korra...you know that there's nothing you could have done correct?"

"Yeah, we were in completely different areas, I just...wish I was a little bit faster with my guy that's all, unfortunately for me my guy had some fighting skill, after all you guys taught me better than to play with my enemies unless they start the games"

"Sadly these things happen, but at least they won"

"True and that's the most important thing for me to remember, they won the fight and protected their classmates"

"Oh by the way, what's this we hear about you growling at your teacher?"

"Um...they really ticked me off this time and with them actually  _inside_  the building I knew that there was a high possibility of getting into a fight and I was letting my teacher know that full of emotions"

"Korra..."

"I know, I know, I should have had more control, but really think about the situation I was in"

"You have a point, just...try and keep better control of yourself in the future"

"I know, hopefully I will be able to"

The rest of the school year was thankfully peaceful, if a little tense due to what had happened. Once summer came around Korra actually left the country once more due to the training that she was being given by the military, however she was only gone for a month and then spent the rest of the summer like a normal kid, unfortunately she came back to chaos

"Okay...I need to know three things, what happened, where are the sparklings, and what is the condition of the base?"

"Barricade's missing, the sparklings are in medbay under spark support and the base is on the highest alert it's been since Barricade had his triplets"

"Are the little ones in any danger of dying?"

"Ratchet's not sure, it's why he has the triplets on spark support, it's mostly a precaution though Twilight needed it for a little bit for some reason"

"What happened to Barricade Red Alert?"

Red Alert doesn't answer though instead he goes to the bond

/Jazz, Prowl, Korra is asking about Barricade, got any answers for her?/

/I'm coming Red Alert, Prowl is staying behind to try and get more clues, but we have an idea of what's happened now at least, the triplets?/

/Triplets are under Ratchet's care as a precaution/

/Got it/

Red Alert then turns his attention back to Korra

"Jazz is on his way to talk to you about this"

"Understood"

Korra stays put and then when she sees Jazz she deliberately slips into Cybertronian since there were other EDC kids now in the room and she wanted to keep things completely in the family, and since very few humans ever wanted to take the time to learn Cybertronian even if they could she knew they would have the needed privacy in public

*Jazz, where's Barricade and what happened?*

*Missing due to something happening on patrol, Prowl is looking for clues on who has him but there was a definite fight and Barricade is injured, I'm sure that the triplets felt that their carrier was injured too if Ratchet has them on spark support as a precaution*

*How soon until we know more?*

*Not sure really, we know what we know when we know is the current status*

*Got it, triplet watch?*

*Triplet watch*

*Right...when they're released from Ratchet... _if_  they're released from Ratchet...by the way is there video of his patrol area?*

*What for?*

*I wanna see it, might be able to help find Barricade through enemy recognition*

*The Primes and Galvatron?*

*Don't know my idea yet since it just came to me, besides you know full well the training I am getting*

*True...very well I will let the computer know you have my permission...do you want me to help you since this is a bit newer for you?*

*Yeah actually...besides I think...I think you can help me learn properly what my parents did, or at least part of what my parents did*

*Okay then, two hours before I see you in my office*

*Got it*

Four hours later Korra was in Jazz's office and finally had the missing clues in regards to what had happened to Barricade, though they also knew that something was majorly wrong because a half hour earlier Ratchet had reported that the triplets had suddenly started crying and screaming in pain for five minutes before all of their spark supports activated, as of the last report the triplets were stable due to the equipment but were also still reacting to Barricade's pain that they were feeling through the bond they had with their carrier

"Got it! I have the creeps...now to just figure out where they currently are"

"Do you know them?"

"Oh yeah...unfortunately you're not going to like how I know them"

"Don't tell me let me guess Britain"

"Got it in one Jazz, though it looks like they got help this time...Quintessons if I'm correct"

"I didn't see any Quintessons"

"The weaponry that was used looks like Quintesson weapons to me"

"Well for now we tell the others that we have a possible lead"

"Right"

Three days later a rescue team found and rescued Barricade from terrorists, who were indeed in league with Quintessons, Barricade was also injured relatively badly with missing armor, half of his lower left leg gone his right arm completely gone and a chest wound dangerously close to his spark chamber that fortunately wasn't deep enough to actually do any damage. As soon as he was back at base and in medbay his first priority was his sparklings who he went over to and touched their foreheads, rubbing them gently and then speaking to all of them had only this to say to them

"I'm home little ones, and once Ratchet is done with me we are going to have some quality time together"

"You're too right that you're having quality time together, once my repairs are complete you're on medical leave for at least a week, you and your sparklings are in desperate need of time together, even if they are no longer dependent on you for food and haven't been for a good year all of you need time together due to everything you've been through recently, they're still way too young to truly be separated from you for this long, combined with the fact that the spark support is the only thing that kept them alive at one point means all of you are going to be under medical lockdown during the night and depending on your decision part of the day as well"

It ultimately took three days for Ratchet to release Barricade, but in the meantime he and his triplets slept together as much as possible (Barricade was the main sleeper while Ratchet or First Aid put the triplets on his bed for cuddling whenever they felt it was okay to do so, knowing that the triplets were in need of comforting that only their carrier could provide, whenever he was awake he simply held them in his arms seeing as how he no longer was capable of feeding them, even for comfort)

"You're finally good to go Barricade...however I highly suggest that you find Korra and let her know yourself that you're okay, she...isn't doing good mentally, having refused to come to the medbay for more lessons"

"She was part of the rescue team wasn't she?"

"Against recommendations yes, she...she felt your life force fading, you know as well as I that she can detect our energy signatures, it's what allows her to know whoever is trying to sneak up on her is there, it also let's her know someone wants her attention whenever she's hyper focused on something else, somehow she's kept the fact that she can tell if someone is dying hidden from us for a while now, First Aid barely got you stable for the trip, how you managed to stay awake long enough to let your triplets know you were home is beyond me in all reality"

"Understood, know where she is currently?"

"Rec room last I knew, doing homework I believe"

"During summer?"

"Red Alert, he wanted her to look over some security videos as training"

"Ah"

Barricade takes his triplets to the rec room and does indeed see Korra watching security videos, he deliberately flares his energy field to alert her to his presence which has the immediate effect of making her turn around in delighted shock, she then runs up to Barricade and hugs him on his legs, naturally making sure first that his triplets wouldn't be in the way

"It's good to see you're okay I...I thought we would lose you"

"Ratchet told me as much"

"I know I shouldn't have been part of the rescue team but I was the only one with enough information to help, not even the local police had as much information as I did"

"Everything's okay now, so want to take a break and watch cartoons with me and the triplets?"

"Sure"

And with that there was a four way cuddle session with Lua and Dawnbreaker on one end Twilight on another and Korra in Barricade's lap with cartoons on the TV, and everyone else simply gave them space knowing just how desperately the cuddle session was needed, not only for the triplets who had felt Barricade's pain, but also for Korra who was in need of reassurance that Barricade truly was well enough to leave the medbay even if it was obvious he wasn't completely recovered from his ordeal. Meanwhile the EDC officers who had been on punishment detail when the triplets were only nine months old were wondering why Barricade was still mostly stuck on base when they knew for themselves that the sparklings were no longer dependent on Barricade for food and decided to go to Ratchet for those answers

"Hey Ratchet we were wondering something"

"What is it?"

"How come Barricade is still mostly confined to base when the triplets are no longer dependent on him for food?"

"That's slightly complicated, however I can tell you that it's part of their development, while they don't need Barricade for their food they do still need him for a lot more than just that, and will for some time yet, it's why he's never sent out on a mission unless it's absolutely necessary and why there are specific babysitters as well unless they're also busy"

What Ratchet wasn't telling them was that while Barricade was no longer feeding his sparklings himself he was still giving them special nanites through a special transferring process that Ratchet had developed as the triplets were being weened off of Barricade, the triplets would need the nanites until they were seven human years old and not the equivalent either but how long they had been in the world even though everyone knew that the equivalent would be years away still. They also needed Barricade close by because of the family bond that was between the four of them, one the parent the other three the children, it would be very, very raw and sensitive to every little emotion and pain that Barricade felt for at least twenty Earth years, with the triplets only being about three Earth years old the bond was still in it's beginning stages with Barricade only just now being able to slightly control what emotions slipped through, pain however was another thing, one he would be unable to control for a couple of decades even slightly and it would take until the triplets were younglings for there to be full control over what they felt over their bond with their carrier, as such they were at high risk of death if Barricade died until they were the equivalent of teenagers and needed special protection in the form of Barricade being close by as much as possible


	16. Chapter 16

"Wait, why would he need specific babysitters?"

"Because they're either specially trained to handle sparklings and any problems that might come up,  _or_  they know how to handle a problem involving the family bond between Barricade and his sparklings which is critical if something happens to Barricade on a patrol, just like a few days ago"

"Okay then...by the way I know you can't tell us specifics but...is Barricade going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine, I mainly have him on medical leave for the sparklings sakes to be honest but he needs the time to heal too"

Meanwhile Korra and the triplets had fallen asleep while watching cartoons and while Barricade had expected his triplets to fall asleep he was surprised that Korra had also done so until he did a scan, and that's when he was forced to bite his tongue discovering that Korra was dangerously exhausted, she had barely slept the entire time Barricade was in the medbay and it was now showing, as such he realized that he needed help

"Hey guys, I need some help here"

"What do you need?"

"I need one person to carry Korra and another person to carry Dawnbreaker, all four of them are asleep, Korra due to sleep deprivation"

"Got it"

Two days later Korra was in Optimus' office and asked a very important question that the three leaders knew would be asked soon

"Okay, exactly  _why_ am I the leader of the entire Cybertronian army if you three are lost?"

"There are a few reasons, the first is that you were raised in this environment so you understand us better than most, another reason is for your protection...Korra, the United States will abide by the adoption but other world leaders might pressure both the rest of the family and the United States government to put you in the care of someone else if something happens to the three of us, that's because we're basically the face of the Cybertronians and many don't understand that everyone is competent to take care of you not just us three. You will also have protection against our other enemies that come from space, you know that we're already protective of you, but if you become the leader..."

"That protection goes up tenfold at the very least" (sighs) "OK you win, so politics or leadership today?"

"Politics, because you might be forced to deal with it, including trade agreements...as it is you might get some that we currently can't due to fear, all we would hope for is that they wouldn't rescind it once we're back in charge"

"Don't worry  _if_  and that's hopefully a big if, if something forces me to be the leader and I get trade agreements I'll find a way to make them understand that they never had anything to fear from you guys"

"Well for now we have a lesson to get to"

And with that the lesson was started for the day with her ultimately splitting time between Red Alert and the leaders for lessons with some medbay time as well for the rest of her summer break. When school started she herself was not there for the first week of school, but that was due to the fact that the United States government had been informed of what her family was now doing and had decided that Korra was going to get special training in trade agreements by being by the President's side when he negotiated with Russia in regards to old and new trade agreements. This was so that she would get a first hand look at what a meeting like that partially entailed since she was told flat out that not everything might go peacefully and that every country and thus every meeting was different, and it's even more complicated when it's a first time meeting on both sides for the first ever trade negotiations

"Now normally negotiations would be completed while you were here however..."

"The new trade agreements means it might take longer than normal"

"Exactly"

"Well...at least I'm still learning something even if I don't get to see the final outcome"

Finally the week ended and Korra went back to school, ultimately having to wait for word on how things went since like predicted the negotiations hadn't finished in time. School was normal but what Korra didn't know was that her family had finally won their argument with the United States government and she would be allowed to get her pilots license at only thirteen years old due to very compelling arguments by her family. In the meantime though Korra came home from school and needed to talk to Prowl about something, but instead discovered a scene she  _never_ wanted to see again, Prowl and Barricade both apparently dead, or at least unconscious, thus having her slam into the base wide communication system

"Ratchet! I need you in Prowl's office immediately"

Ratchet answered privately though making the rest of the conversation private

::What's wrong?::

::Prowl and Barricade, they're...they're unconscious, possibly dead...no wait only unconscious::

::Are you sure?::

::Yeah, Barricade's gone from unconscious to semi-conscious and there's a dim glow to Prowl's optics indicating he's still alive::

::I'm on the way::

Five minutes later Ratchet had scanned them both and was scowling

"Once he wakes up enough to safely do so tell Barricade to use his emergency high-grade ration, Prowl has to go to medbay for medical grade Energon"

"Because of his allergy"

"Exactly"

"What's wrong with them?"

"They both worked themselves too hard recently, pretty much into recharge, the only reason Barricade is even slightly better off is his triplets"

"He makes sure to take care of himself to take care of his little ones, even if they no longer need him for their food"

"Exactly"

"Hang on, I thought high-grade was only carried during missions"

"I made it mandatory for him while you were in Britain after he collapsed on us one day, he wasn't taking in enough Energon for himself and the triplets and he made sure that what he had went to his sparklings. Once he woke up I yelled at him and told him that until they reach youngling status the triplets were going to be watched for complications and he was to have an emergency high-grade ration on him at all times, when the triplets were weened I kept him on the orders due to the fact that they are still dependent on him for a lot that takes up energy"

"Got it"

Ratchet leaves with Prowl and five minutes later Barricade is finally coherent enough to actually listen to Korra

"Hey Barricade, Ratchet says you need to take your emergency high-grade ration right now, and then I think you need to get actual Energon"

Barricade drinks his emergency ration and then goes to the rec room and sees his triplets and several other EDC kids, all of them simply decide to hang out when suddenly the base was under attack forcing them to become a mobile resistance and guard for the triplets. Two hours later

"Okay...I got nothing, anyone have a plan B?"

One by one each EDC kid replies in the negative when finally they get to Korra

"Kerenai you got anything?...Kerenai...Korra!"

Unfortunately Korra isn't fully with them and instead of replying like a normal person they hear something that would temporarily make no sense

"Oh you have got to be  _kidding_  me, really, just, just really?"

It would take Barricade putting Lua in Korra's lap to get her attention

"What?"

"You got a plan B Korra?"

"Nope I don't have a plan  _B_ , I am currently working on plan  _G_ , as in Gulf"

"That's..."

"Yup"

"Okay, hopefully we're finally in a secure place for you to actually fully make the plan, and by the way how on  _earth_  are you kids able to carry my triplets?"

"Adrenaline, and something else that we're not explaining right now"

"Why not?"

"Because we need the Primes, Galvatron and Captain Faireborn for the conversation...now then I think I finally have a plan that we can implement, however everyone must do  _exactly_  as I tell you to do or it won't work and could get one or more of us killed, Barricade your job is staying with your sparklings and you know full well why I have to do that"

"Yes, I do indeed know why that's needed"

"The rest of you are going to be active participants, except you Mark"

"But Korra..."

"No but Korra will work Mark, not with your condition"

"You..."

"Yes, I know, no rules were broken by the way...well okay  _almost_  no rules were broken, I mainly figured it out through observation and then asked Captain Faireborn for confirmation due to security reasons, she didn't want to tell me but I pushed her until she gave the order to specific people to tell me"

"Got it, so it was  _just_  a confirmation that was rule broken?"

"Yep, like I said I had suspicions due to my own observations and just needed it confirmed for security reasons, Barricade he can mainly defend himself but...keep an eye on him as well"

"Hey..."

"You know full well your own body, besides you're not completely out of the action, you'll be helping Barricade defend his triplets"

"Fine, but if things go wrong because I wasn't there so help me I'll..."

"You'll what Mark? I know you know better than to spar against me right now, oh and by the way I don't know if you've noticed the pain now but after our most recent run I noticed you favoring your left leg, ankle or knee?"

"Knee and it's not bad Korra, it's actually from an old injury that decided to flare up is all"

"Fine, like I said you know your body best, just be careful, now then we have a plan to execute, Barricade tell the others that it's code Reno-5"

"Right"

An hour and a half later the base was cleaning up the mess the invasion and subsequent plan to retake the base had made and everyone was in a mass debriefing situation including the kids, Barricade had been excluded due to the fact that once the battle was over he was discovered to have all three triplets sleeping on him and he through the comm system told the group that they needed comfort snuggle time with him so he was excused to do parent duties, Mark was also not involved since he was in the medbay being looked at since the enemies had indeed succeeded in getting close to Barricade and his triplets, but Mark disobeyed Korra and left the room to hold off the enemies before they could reach the safe room knowing that them getting that close to the triplets wasn't a good idea

"Okay, Barricade is in his quarters with his sparklings while Mark is being looked at, how did they get that close to the safe room?"

"It wasn't actually a safe room Rodimus, it was a room that we quickly fashioned into a last minute safe room for Mark, Barricade and the triplets, Mark saved their lives disobeying my orders but...I think we might need to start making multiple safe rooms for future incidents because you know that it's going to happen"

"Fine...Prowl your report will be later however since you were with Red Alert for all but the last ten minutes he can give the report for both of you"

Red Alert gave his report and once the report was finished one by one the groups each gave their own reports

"Okay, now then who's the spokesperson for the EDC kids?"

"Korra, she's the one who came up with the plan that won the day and honestly until then we were completely together"

"Good point, however we do need individual reports on what you were doing once you split up, even if Korra explains her plans"

"He's right, it's needed, and by the way there's something you should know, I went all the way up to plan G as in Gulf before the plan was able to be executed"

"Ouch...that's a ridiculous amount of plans to go through, at least for you"

"Oh yeah"

Korra then goes on to explain not only why she had to go through so many plans but also what the plan ultimately was and her part in it. Once she was finished everyone else gave their own report on how they executed Korra's plan and that's when she found out that two teams made modifications to the plan, but they were needed modifications so she wasn't upset with them

"Okay how come you're mad at Mark but not us for modifying the plan?"

"I have my reasons to be upset with Mark, I kept him with Barricade as a safety precaution, you guys had to implement a plan surrounded by enemies and no plan truly survives first contact, it's why I gave you a basis and not a plan that was you do this or else"

"You know thinking back it did seem...fluid with your planning"

"And I did that deliberately"

"How are you even able to make such plans?"

"Sorry, not able to tell you"

"Understood"

The EDC kids all left and things went back to a slightly normal level of activity, the alert status remained high for a solid month just in case, once things had settled down a few days after the attack Barricade gave his report and then refused to leave his triplets side for a solid week after hearing from Mark just how close they had gotten which forced him to disobey Korra's orders to stay with Barricade and the triplets. A few months later Korra was in trouble, she was just starting to learn how to fly at thirteen and had lost communications and her training officer all at once to a nasty storm, the pilot was unconscious while the radio was knocked out, but Korra had a secret weapon, a special radio that allowed contact with her family and air traffic controllers, but only if she knew the radio frequency for the controllers which she didn't


	17. Chapter 17

"This is Korra calling Cybertron base, I have no communication with the air traffic tower and my training officer is unconscious, please respond"

Suddenly Korra hears an answer that most would not know or recognize as an answer but due to her unique situation and training for almost a year she knew and recognized the message for what it was

_Message_

-.- - .-. .-. .- / - ... .. ... / .. ... / .-. .-. - .- .-.. -..- / ..- -. ..-. - .-. - ..- -. .- - . .-.. -.- / -.. ..- . / - - / .- -. / - ...- . .-. ... .. -. ... - / - -. / - ..- .-. / .-. .- .-. - / -.- - ..- .-. / .-. .- -.. .. - / -.. - . ... / -. - - / ... .- ...- . / - ... . / - . .- -. ... / - - / -.-. - -. - .- -.-. - / .- .. .-. / - .-. .- ..-. ..-. .. -.-. / -.-. - -. - .-. - .-.. -..- / -... .-.. .- ... - . .-. / ... .- ... / -... . . -. / .- .-.. . .-. - . -.. / - - / - ... . / ... .. - ..- .- - .. - -. / - ... - ..- -. ... / .- -. -.. / .. ... / -. . - - .. -. -. / .-. . .- -.. -.- / - - / .- -.-. - / .- ... / -.- - ..- .-. / .-. . .-.. .- -.- / - - / - ... . / -.-. - -. - .-. - .-.. .-.. . .-. ... / ..- -. - .. .-.. / - .-. / .. ..-. / -.- - ..- / -. . - / -.- - ..- .-. / .-. .- -.. .. - / .- - .-. -.- .. -. -. / .- -. .- .. -.

_End of message_

"Understood Prowl, Blaster ready when you are"

"I'm ready girl"

And so Blaster acts as Korra's relay until ten minutes before she lands

"Okay Blaster, now tell Korra that she needs to make sure that her training pilot is going to be safe on a hard touch down"

"No need for relay tower, I hear you loud and clear"

"Finally, okay then we'll just talk directly to you then, but thanks for the relay until now Blaster"

"No problem guys, glad to be of help for Korra, and the one other pilot who somehow gained access to our frequency"

Once Korra was safely on the ground the medics took her training officer to the hospital in an ambulance while she was taken by an airport employee by car, due to her circumstances once she was medically cleared she learned that her training pilot had a relatively mild concussion, a nasty cut on his head and a strained shoulder from when the wheel suddenly jerked after the plane hit debris right before he was hit by some of it causing him to black out

"All in all he's very lucky it's not even more severe"

"Still going to need to find you a temporary instructor until he's cleared medically"

"I know that but...I need a few days to myself before I get back in the air, not trying to avoid potential problems but...the plane took damage as well and this flight school has rules"

"We know, now then with school currently on break for some reason you have lessons with Ratchet and us leaders, everyone else except Jazz have declared that they've taught you everything they can"

(Sighs) "I could have sworn the school sent you guys a message about the water pipes bursting and lead also being discovered in said pipes and thus school shutting down for a month while they take care of that problem"

"They might have and we ignored it, you forget Korra that we don't have a specific area for school messages for a reason"

"Oh and what reason is that?"

"If there's a sudden attack they call us directly, security reports from the school are handed to us monthly through a secret means and normally school notes are handed to us through you"

"Maybe I can help you develop a system for school then"

"That should work"

And so once Korra's plane was fixed she got almost a solid month of flying in letting her quickly progress to learning how to fly just by instrumentation which would ultimately come in handy due to her needing the skills on a school trip just after school reopened. The trip was well known for two reasons, the first was that it had been in the works for almost a month before the sudden shut down, the second reason was that it was an annual trip that the school did. The plane ride initially started well when suddenly a flight attendant rushed to Korra's seat and whispered in her ear that there was a problem with the pilots and she was needed up front, that and the plane was starting to go erratic. As soon as she was in the cockpit she was on the radio

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, this is Kerenai on flight United 239, both pilots are down"

"Understood Kerenai, first I want to know if you have any flight experience"

"Rodger tower, I am a pilot trainee cleared to fly VFR" (Visual Flight Rules) "only, just started instrument flight training last week"

"Copy Kerenai, we'll get a pilot to help you out for what you don't know how to do...how's your fuel?"

"Too heavy Memphis I know that much"

"Copy United 239, redirect to Little Rock"

"Copy tower, redirecting to Little Rock"

Fifteen minutes later she was being given clearance to land and was being instructed on how to work the instruments when she discovered a problem

"Tower update, request  _visual confirmation_  that my landing gear is down"

"Repeat United 239, I thought I heard a request for confirmation of landing gear down"

"Affirmative tower request visual confirmation of landing gear down, otherwise this is going to be a hard belly landing with high risk of no survivors"

Fortunately there was a smaller plane that was able to get close enough to confirm that Korra did indeed have all three landing gears down and in an apparent locked position

"Let's just hope that's the case because otherwise the gear will collapse on landing...request emergency personnel on the tarmac"

"Already there United 239, request update on pilot status"

"Still unable to fly but alive, that's as much as I know"

"Copy United 239...good luck"

"Thanks I need it"

Fortunately Korra made a successful landing and once everything in the cabin was taken care of she was the last to leave the plane and as soon as she was on the tarmac and being held by someone she started shaking something fierce and her emotions finally let loose

"Well done young lady, well done...come on let's get you inside and to a private area where you can calm down and be debriefed"

Korra was led to a private area where she was debriefed after she had calmed down enough to actually answer questions

"Thank you for your time...I hope you manage to complete your lessons and get your pilots license"

"Thanks, I will I just...I just need to get back home to do so, maybe calm down some more before then"

"We don't blame you for your breakdown, that was very stressful I'm sure"

"The person who led me here was the only reason I wasn't collapsed on the tarmac"

"Right, now then if needed there are treatments available, but at the same time we know you have other help for any possible problems"

"Exactly, am I cleared to go now?"

"Yes you are"

Korra starts to leave when one of the investigators speaks up again

"By the way Korra, the two pilots? I hear that they're going to make a full recovery, at least physically, mentally and emotionally will take time to find out"

"Thanks...for letting me know"

Korra then leaves the airport and sees her ride to an EDC base, and as soon as she's inside the car she hugs the steering wheel and let's out her emotions once more this time saying a name

"Hound...take me to base"

Once at base Korra, who had fallen asleep from emotional venting, was lifted out of Hound's vehicle form by an EDC officer and Jazz, who was there on a different assignment did a quick scan and decided to alert the rest of the bond group to what he had detected

/Guys, Korra is in bad straights right now, physical exhaustion and emotional overload, alert rest of the base, as for the school trip need to know if it's been canceled due to the emergency/

/Prowl here Jazz, school trip delayed, will alert rest of base that she's safe at your location and in need of some alone time/

/Understood Prowl, by the way comm silence in effect for this base, thus the bond, let others know if they aren't already aware/

/Reason?/

/Exercise of some sort/

/Understood, will inform everyone else/

Korra ultimately slept for three hours before waking up and checking in with the school to figure out what was going on with the annual school trip and discovered that they would remain where they were for two days while alternate travel arrangements were made since the school decided not to book another flight, that was mainly due to money issues but also because some parents were too nervous about another problem happening in the air with there children. Korra's family of course was an exception, and another child who's mother was a pilot was a second exception but they were overridden by the other family's and the school board, instead Korra's family decided to help defray the cost of alternate arrangements as much as they could  _knowing_  that the emergency wasn't anyone's fault, after all no one could have predicted both pilots coming down with the flu and pneumonia respectively and not knowing it due to being asymptomatic, otherwise known as not showing any symptoms, thus not realizing they were putting themselves and their passengers at risk until they reached a crises point in midair


	18. Chapter 18

"So what exactly is going on here Jazz?"

"They're simulating an EMP attack which scrambles the comm systems for three days, we Cybertronians are equipped to handle something like that but the rest of the equipment isn't for reasons I am not getting into"

"Got it"

A few days later Korra and the rest of the kids finished up the annual school trip and then went back home to finish out the school year. By the time summer came Korra was a licensed pilot and was told to simply take the time to be a regular teenager

"But what about my lessons?"

"Those will continue but only two lessons a week instead of almost every day, you need time to be a kid Korra, you're growing up so fast already due to your unique situation that you need time to be a normal teenager and have fun summer activities, not lessons on how to lead a planet or heal your family"

"Very well I'll  _try_  and find something to do but...I might not succeed due to my upbringing"

"Don't worry Korra, you'll find ways of being a normal teenager, trust us"

What Korra was unaware of was the fact that many of her fellow EDC kids were simply waiting for Korra to spend time with them to make friends with her, they understood that she lived a different life from them, a life full of more security than they could imagine even with the brief glimps into that life when they were at the main base the day of the attack when Korra made the plan that saved the day, they even understood that her maturity level was different because of her different life, but they also understood that Korra had never taken the time to balance her home life with a social life and that it was desperately needed. A need that they had been wanting to fill since she was eight years old after the disaster of a summer camp, her first and only attempt at being normal, but she herself had never tried to reach out so they were starting to lose hope that she ever would. Her family knew she needed the socialization, but at the same time her security needs were always forced to take precedence, and with everything that seemed to always happen to either her or the family they never had a chance to allow that down time for her, but Marissa Faireborn had finally put her foot down while Korra was learning how to fly and mentioned that the other EDC kids  _wanted_  to make friends with Korra if they only got the chance. She told the Cybertronian leaders flat out that they could and probably would lose Korra if she didn't start learning to socialize, and if they didn't start lifting security measures regarding Korra as well

_Months earlier_

"What do you mean Marissa?"

"What if something happens to the three of you? I know for a fact that Cybertronian law states that she's to lead Cybertron if that happens, but the rest of the base...the kids her age or just a little older won't understand her if that happens without a background understanding and she would lose what little chance she still has at being normal. She needs the chance to be normal for a support system if anything happens to you three and she becomes a world leader while still just a kid, they can bring her school work, force her to relax for a few moments, remind her to take care of herself...she will listen to her family yes, because it's all she's used to but if she has no peer support...she will never learn how to properly socialize if that should happen, it's almost already too late for most of the older kids, those her age or just a year or two older need to be around her now before they lose hope, those younger than her...well they fear her more than anything"

"She could turn out like us during the war, having emotions but also having a hard time showing them properly"

"Exactly, how long did it take for things to normalize after the civil war?"

"Too long, even if it was forced on us because of a virus"

"Exactly, you're going to lose her soon if she isn't given a proper outlet, she...she'll be an adult in a teenager's body because she won't  _know_  normal, except the normal of this family"

"Which is constant alert status with periodic fights"

"Exactly"

"But to lower security..."

"Primes, Galvatron..." (sighs) "I know why things are so high in regards to her, what I'm asking is that you bring up the security clearances for all EDC kids proportionate to their age group"

"Would they understand  _why_  they need to keep certain things a secret?"

"That's why it's in regards to age group, those five and younger only know that Korra has a unique family within the EDC, six through ten are allowed to know that her family's unique status is why she has a high security clearance and also why she seems more mature than most people her age, eleven and up get done through specialized tests that determine how much information about Korra's true family and her status within them is revealed"

"Very well, because you're right, she does need to be able to socialize with her peers"

"Good than we're agreed, and even if they don't pass the special tests, Korra herself knows and understands about security clearances and should be able to make friends despite such barriers"

"However that will not happen until summer break starts, she is currently focused on getting her pilots license and also school work"

"Understood, just make sure that it happens during summer"

"We will, somehow, but don't think it will be easy"

"Ha, I highly doubt getting her to socialize will be easy, at least initially, however her peers will let her in eagerly and teach her how to socialize properly soon enough"

"If you're sure"

"Positive, just wait, she'll be acting slightly more normal as a teenager by the end of summer"

"Very well, but if you prove wrong you're the one who will have to deal with the consequences"

"I know"

_Present_

Korra was initially outside and simply by herself, not knowing what she could do for fun since she really did only know the life of vigilance, but soon enough some of her age mates got her involved in a game of soccer knowing she had to be handled carefully in regards to friendship and thus taking it slow, simply letting her play with them first before going for an obvious attempt at friendship. Over the rest of summer the other EDC kids not only brought Korra out of her defensive shell to a point but also gained her trust and friendship, and those that passed the security tests also gained the knowledge of who was truly raising her and what that meant in respect to how security minded she was and what could happen if the three leaders were ever lost in battle or otherwise unable to lead their people. And one day the group that knew the full truth about Korra decided to meet in a secure and private area

"So...we might need to support Korra at school if the leaders of Cybertron are unable to lead"

"That's if we're even told about it, we might have to find out through simple observation"

"No...we'll be told"

"How do you know?"

"Captain Faireborn, she told me the day I passed the test that everyone who knows the full truth about Korra will be told if she's suddenly the leader of Cybertron while still in school, if that happens we get her class work for her if we're in the same class and make sure to take excellent notes"

"And if she still attends school?"

"She might, however she's going to be distracted and might have to leave at a moments notice"

"Point"

"We now have to watch her in gym class though starting next school year"

"Oh?"

"Haven't you noticed all the checks Korra goes through whenever she has a suspected injury?"

"Now that I think about it yeah, I have noticed those checks, don't know the reason behind them though"

"Neither do I but we should keep an eye out for her at school if she has to do checks at home"

"There's something else we need to keep an eye on"

"Oh...yeah her fighting powers"

"Exactly, how she can combine her powers when fighting is still a mystery, but it drains her twice as fast than just using her powers to fight or just using normal hand to hand, and her family hasn't figured out why it's such a weakness"

"But it's also a strength, it's saved her life a few times if I recall correctly"

"True, but it's still also a weakness"

"Maybe not intentionally, and maybe not originally, either way summer is almost up, at least we've started the socialization process for her, maybe we can have normal weekends with her now"

"Maybe, but probably not too often since she probably does have leadership training to do, and probably medical training still I think"

"But an occasional teenager weekend won't hurt anything I'm sure"

"Agreed, her family will probably insist at times once they see the true difference in her if they haven't already"

A week later school started up again and there were instant changes to Korra's routine, because her family had indeed seen the difference in Korra within a week of her starting to hang out with people her age and just a little older and as such had made the decision to give Korra one weekend a month at least time to be a teenager, they would push the issue for longer if they ever felt it was needed though

"Korra the weekend is mandatory"

"But..."

"No, Captain Faireborn is right, we let this go on too long, you need to start learning how to socialize with those around your age before it's too late"

"I do socialize with those around my age"

"No Korra you don't, not properly at the very least, a summer with your age mates isn't enough but it's a start in undoing damage done by our protectiveness of you"

(Sighs) "I know that, I know I need to socialize properly, I've known that for a while now, but at the same time I'm scared Optimus, I'm so scared that something will happen to them. They don't have the training I do, though they have more than most kids our age, but it's still nothing compared to me"

"Korra...look we know that they don't have your level of training, but the training they do have is the training that they need since they won't be as involved in our fights as you are, they'll be okay. Yes something may ultimately happen to them but at the same time you could be killed tomorrow in a simple accident, even with your powers"

"Fine, I won't fight orders but...can you give them at least a little more training in case something happens while they're around me?"

"Yes, that we can do"

"Good, so this weekend is the start of the one weekend a month?"

"Yes"

"Okay, I'll either figure something out or they will"

What Korra and her family were unaware of was that all EDC kids not involved in a school sport deliberately kept one weekend a month for normal teenager activities, and more often than not they had every weekend with a plan of normal everyday kid activities, all they now needed to know and could request was when Korra had a weekend free and they would make time to be with her to help her in socializing more often. That weekend it was agreed that they would go to the movies, naturally with a chaperon of either some parents or some of the EDC kids that could drive and had their license

"Why not both?, there's a new family movie out that my parents and younger siblings want to check out and it sounds interesting enough"

"You have a point, vote on it and then ask Korra?"

"Yep"

And so Korra and the others did indeed to go the movies that weekend and once the movie was done they decided to eat out

"So, how did you enjoy the movie?"

"It was great, I wish...well too late for wishes really"

"I think I know what you wish, I bet you wish you had started doing this sooner"

"Yeah, I missed so much before"

"But there are reasons as to why"

"True enough, true enough"

Two months later Korra was in the control room doing homework when suddenly after almost five years of dead ends Punch reported that he had finally found and rescued Mirage, but that there was also a surprise in regards to Mirage as well. Seventeen hours later Mirage was back on Earth and the surprise was revealed, during the almost five years of capture he had also been put under the same experiments as Barricade and had given birth to five sparklings. Once in the medbay Ratchet woke Mirage up hoping for some answers, and besides he needed Mirage awake for the revelation that he was going to give the leaders and Mirage himself since he suspected that Mirage wasn't aware of his current condition (mainly due to how...early the condition still was)

"Mirage I need to know if any of your sparklings were multiples"

"Yes, my oldest are twins, they gave me a years rest and then had me bear sparklings each year, the younger three are one each year, my twins were delivered by c-section while the last three were natural births, why are you asking?"

"I see, well I have some news for you, you're carrying again and this time it's for sure a set of twins"

"Seven...I'm going to have seven children?"

"Yes, but Mirage, we'll help you now that you're home, and once it's time I am also going to deliver these via c-section and then give you the modifications I have given the others so that you don't have to carry any more sparklings at the risk of your own health, I'm amazed you haven't had the same problems that almost killed Barricade five years ago"

"Same here to be honest, how far along am I?"

"Looks like you're about three months along"

"I see, this time I haven't had any morning sickness"

"Doesn't always happen"

"True...oh and though you can't tell yet, I'm going to be feeding my sparklings myself once I deliver them and you clear me for such Ratchet"

"Just like Barricade then"

"Yes...just like Barricade, I discovered that as soon as they're weened the sacs disappear, and due to them basically wanting to make me into a breeder they reappear every time you have a sparkling"

"Wait...Barricade wasn't fully weened for almost a full year and a half, and by weened taking Energon from a cube, they still needed until it had been two Earth years since they had been born special sparkling Energon"

"My captors have my sparklings develop a bit faster then, they're fully weened by six months and by fully weened I mean ready to have normal Energon"

"That's...that's too soon"

"I know...but that's the way things are, they grow up too fast for me since they were probably meant to be sold on the black market or trained as soldiers a few years down the road"

"Well...I won't be forcing them to develop faster than they're meant to be that's for sure and neither will the Primes or Galvatron"

"I know"

The next six months were about the same as with Barricade, only this time there were no sudden stops of premature labor. As soon as Mirage was having signs of labor he was taken to medbay where he indeed had another set of twins via c-section. Four days later he was in surgery again to get the modifications that would prevent him from being a carrier ever again, which was for the best since it had turned out that Punch had also managed to steal notes on each of Mirage's carrying periods and it was noted that each time was more dangerous than the last when forced to have sparklings so close together, he wouldn't have a weakened spark like what almost killed Barricade, but he was weaker for longer each time and his captors theorized that eventually it would have become dangerous for him to have any sparklings due to high risk of death during the carry period. The sparklings would grow up and join the civilian world with lots of adopted uncles since like Ratchet promised the entire base did indeed help Mirage raise his children, though Barricade was the most frequent babysitter and caretaker, and Barricade's sparklings while older were good friends and playmates to Mirage's sparklings, they also looked after their slightly younger counterparts and while disappointed that they went into the civilian sector instead of joining them and serving like their parents had they understood that they had their own paths and didn't let that break the bond between them. Meanwhile back in the present Korra continued school and life balancing while Mirage was waiting for his twins to arrive, also quietly celebrating her fourteenth birthday with family and her few EDC kid friends who knew the full truth about Korra, having let her know that right before Halloween due to circumstances beyond their control

"Happy Birthday Korra"

"Thanks guys, so...is this why you guys seem to hover around me more recently?"

"Partially, the other part is that we noticed you going through health checks on a regular basis whenever you are suspected of having an injury and want to prevent that in gym class if possible"

"Yeah that's...that's something I don't want to talk about right now, if I feel it's necessary I will reveal the reasons behind the health checks but until then I want some of my private life to remain private"

"We understand Korra"

"So who has what plans for Christmas break?"

It would turn out that everyone but Korra had normal teenager activities with their families planned, Korra on the other hand had family lessons lined up, plus two weeks with the Coast Guard with the permission of the school

"Korra..."

"Sorry, I know I promised but honestly think about it for a moment and you'll understand why it has to be this way"

(Sighs) "I hadn't thought about that really"

"Thought so, now then..."

Suddenly the intruder alarm goes off and Korra is the one to find the intruders, with precious cargo

"Let go of the sparkling and I promise I won't get it's parent involved"

"Ha, like that will scare me"

"Oh it should, it should scare you greatly, especially considering that the parent will have backup, in the form of another parent, I highly doubt you'll survive two parents protecting the young"

"And they have to get past you and the rest of us too first"

"Good point John, and I am  _very_  hard to get past in a fight that I aim to block someone"

"No matter, you'll be easy to us to fell"

"Not so much as you think, because the others with me are no slouches when it comes to fighting"

"Yes we are"

"Nope, you have little confidence in yourselves, but...this fight will prove something I've known for a while now"

"Attack!"

Suddenly Korra and the rest of the EDC kids were in a fight and just like Korra said the other EDC kids learned that they were better than they thought, because Korra only had to intervene once in the entire fight and that was because the enemy was going to use a very big cannon, as it is she did ultimately supplement one members strength like the last time the base was invaded so that they could get the sparkling away to safety but otherwise except for those two issues Korra never used her powers to help her fellow EDC kids. Later once things were calm everyone once again did a debrief and Mirage was thanking all the EDC kids for getting his sparkling back while Barricade was currently unconscious in the medbay due to being knocked out by the enemy with a combination of an EMP pulse specifically designed to take down Cybertronians and a drug. The rest of the base had looked after the triplets and the other six sparklings of Mirage during the battle since Barricade was discovered during the abduction attempt and Mirage was unfortunately needed on the front lines due to fighting all over the base (he had been in Spec Ops headquarters on base doing preliminary reviews on possible missions before the attack)


	19. Chapter 19

"So you guys fought the enemy and then during the fight Sandra brought the sparkling to the safety room, how?"

"The same way three of us carried Barricade's triplets during that other attack"

"You mean you..."

"Yep, I supplemented her strength to allow her to be able to carry the sparkling"

"And as for the actual battle, we learned that we are indeed better than we thought when it comes to fighting because Korra barely helped us in the fight, I think all she did was supplement Sandra's strength and protected all of us from a big cannon"

"Yep that's the extent of my help for you guys, I used my powers myself against the enemies I fought but that's because it was either combine my self defense with my powers or not succeed in the fight by choosing one or the other"

"By the way Ratchet wants to talk to you about that exact thing in regards to your sudden exhaustion"

"Okay"

"So...how many sparklings are there on base that need protection anyways?"

"Eight for now, Mirage has so far had five sparklings, once it's time for him to give birth he'll have seven sparklings all together so once that happens there will be ten sparklings to protect for a very, very long time"

"Unless..."

"Unless what Korra?"

"I know I don't have any decision making powers but...seven sparklings is a lot harder to protect than three, plus he'll be on the sidelines for a little longer than Barricade since he has so many children including his unborn sparklings. I think you should discuss with Jazz and Mirage sending Mirage back to Cybertron to coordinate Spec Ops from there while Jazz focuses on the Spec Ops on Earth once the twins are delivered and Mirage is given the modification surgery"

"It's a thought, but for now Mirage is staying"

"Don't forget that the fight risked him losing the sparklings that he's currently carrying"

"Ratchet checked him out and says that Mirage and the unborn twins are fine"

"Good"

"So...we were discussing Christmas break plans before this whole mess started"

"Yes, we were, now then I know you guys don't like my plans but you all have things to do with your family's, besides you know what could happen"

"True, but the Coast Guard?"

"Ah...they said something about helicopter maintenance basics"

"Surprised they aren't starting helicopter pilot certification"

"That's because I specifically told the government that I don't want to learn how to fly helicopters, just doesn't interest me, but maintenance is being mandated as a just in case situation, probably due to Springer, but there's a whole lot of differences between Springer and a normal helicopter"

"One would think the Coast Guard would want to train you on rescue swimming and a few other duties that they have"

"Already done"

"When?"

"When Prowl was dying slowly and painfully, my family could see my mental state deteriorating so they asked the Coast Guard to do training for me every weekend and it was granted, the reason they didn't do the maintenance training then was because I wanted to focus on the rescue swimming and enforcement duties of the Coast Guard"

"Oh, well for now we have school tomorrow"

"True enough, true enough"

And so the rest of the school year was actually pretty normal, for a solid month Korra did training with her family and the Coast Guard during her extended holiday break and then rejoined her fellow classmates, continuing her balance between school, home and friends due to the mandatory one weekend a month, though during spring break which lasted a whole week, Korra herself requested permission to simply spend the entire week being a normal teenager, minus a few hours one day when she was watching over both Mirage's and Barricade's sparklings while both were in the control room helping coordinate rescue operations for Nepal after a major natural disaster for that area, with some help since watching over ten sparklings was not easy on anyone. Once summer vacation started Mirage and his seven sparklings were sent to Cybertron for their own safety, Mirage having realized it was for the best when his three leaders and Ops commander talked to him about it, but he first wanted his newest sparklings to be a few months old before traveling through the space bridge, despite knowing it was safe after his surgery

"Take care Mirage, and don't worry about what's going to happen on Cybertron, there's already a support system in place for you"

"I know Jazz, Korra...if you need to talk to me about anything you know you can call at any time"

"I know, if...if the worst case scenario ever happens I might have to contact you, but I hope that never does happen"

"Agreed"

"Mirage I..."

"Take care of your triplets Barricade, I know that you feel it unfair that I'm being sent away when you never were, but I understand the reasons behind both decisions, for me it's a combination of the fact that I have seven sparklings while you only have three, plus I work with Jazz practically as his second-in-command, with Jazz staying here primarily someone needs to run Spec Ops on Cybertron. The other reason you have been allowed to stay is because you're important here in regards to what your job is, you need to stay on Earth"

"See you around Mirage"

With that Mirage left for Cybertron, staying there permanently unless needed for a mission on Earth until his children reached adult status, the only exception was during a dark period on Earth when he took his sparklings back to where they were born to fight for Earth's freedom due to his unique abilities. Meanwhile Korra had to keep up her pilots license and so would be spending a month flying commercial flights for United Airlines, though due to her age she was under stricter restrictions and the airline understood that and had plans to accommodate said restrictions. A week into the month though Korra was on a flight when suddenly things went wrong

"Okay, look to see what the procedure is for this kind of situation"

The First Officer looks and then says something that  _no one_  in the piloting community wanted to hear

"There's no procedure for this situation"

Korra stops and thinks for a moment and makes a snap decision

"Right then, we're just going to have to create one, okay John in my bag there's a black binder full of blank pages, I keep that binder with me at all times in case I need to write something down in regards to any flights I do and then let the proper people see the notes upon landing, now then who had the best handwriting out of the two of you?"

"Howard"

"Okay then, Howard you are going to be the one to write down what we do for the investigative team, hopefully we make a safe landing, if not hopefully the binder survives for the future, if we do survive I am going to see about making sure that the FAA has all airlines implement this procedure during this type of situation, which is admittedly going to be rare but might be needed"

"Right then"

And so the group starts making up an emergency procedure for a triple engine failure with two engines literally no longer on the plane and leaking fuel and hydraulic fluids, plus minor tail damage, ultimately they made a hard but safe emergency landing at the nearest airport but it had been close

"Well, hopefully that never happens again"

"Agreed, but for now I am  _done_  flying planes, I also need at least twenty-four hours before I can even think about being a passenger"

"Shot nerves?"

"Yep, plus you know full well I have stricter rules and regulations to follow than you guys being that I am a minor"

"Good point and I bet they get even stricter if something happens to your flight"

"Exactly, but the restrictions do vary depending on how severe the incident is, passenger medical emergencies, precautionary landings and minor, as in a bird strike killing the engines, those emergencies I actually have no restrictions"

"What about tire blowouts during landing?"

"Eh, depends on what happens after the tire or tires blow out"

"Thus why you didn't add that in the no restrictions section"

"Exactly, now then let's finish our jobs and then...interrogation time"

"Interrogation?"

"Yep, NTSB investigators are gonna want to talk to us about the incident, and if it made live television I am going to get a double dose due to family"

"Ouch, how protective of you are they again?"

"You really don't wanna know actually"

"It's bad if it involves them isn't it?"

"Oh yeah"

A few hours later Korra was one of the first to be questioned and she gave them the notebook with the emergency procedures they made up

"This isn't your handwriting Korra, I know your handwriting due to the last emergency you were involved in"

"Yeah, I had another pilot do the writing since I was focused on flying the plane"

"Okay then, is this everything from start to finish?"

"Yep, now to get the FAA to adopt the procedures and have the airlines also adopt said procedures, even if it doesn't always guarantee a safe landing it's better than no procedures at all"

"True enough Korra, true enough"

A few months later the FAA did indeed make sure that all the airlines adopted the procedures that Korra and her team had created, it was one of the quickest investigations ever done by the NTSB due to how meticulous the crew had been in recording the details of the accident and also the black boxes giving them all the clues they needed basically from the start

_Flight simulator_

"This isn't making any sense, these procedures shouldn't work like they're written, let's modify them"

"You're going to get yourself and everyone else killed modifying these procedures"

"No I won't, we'll skip steps three through five and go straight to step six"

And so the pilot learning the new procedures skips the steps he says he's going to skip and kills everyone

"Congratulations everyone on the plane is dead, or seriously injured depending on how the plane breaks up on impact thanks to you ignoring the proper procedures just recently put into place"

"Because the procedures are wrong"

"If they're so wrong how did my Captain and I get the plane down safely after this exact same incident?, you were told what was happening yet you didn't follow proper procedures, steps three through five were ultimately  _critical_  in having the safe landing that we did, the NTSB confirmed it themselves when they tried doing things with a different procedure for a similar but still very different situation"

The trainer comes in

"He's right, you failed to follow proper procedures and that can get people killed, granted even following procedures sometimes gets people killed but procedures definitely help with a safer outcome, but sometimes sheer dumb luck plays a factor"

"Okay, let's try it again, this time with the right procedures being followed"

"Fine, but I still think the procedures are wrong"

"You have a right to your opinion sir, but my being here is proof that it worked that day"

"Okay, from the top"

"Sir we've lost three engines, two of the engines are literally no longer there, and from what I can tell we're leaking fuel and hydraulic fluids"

"We might have tail damage too with the way I have suddenly lost some flight control"

"Okay, get the emergency procedures out for something like this"

"Found it"

"Okay what do we do?"

"Okay step one is to cut power to the two engines literally no longer there"

"Which are those?"

"Engines one and three"

"Okay, power cut"

"Step two is to cut power to the third engine"

"Okay, which engine is that?"

"Engine four"

"Power cut, how long though?"

"Two minutes"

"Timer started now, what next?"

"Step three is to do slight control maneuvers to see just how bad we've lost control"

"Okay looks like we have more control than I thought but we still need to land as soon as possible, it'll be hard but it should work, next?"

"Step four is to check the time and if possible try and turn on the engine we temporarily cut power to"

"Two minutes is up starting engine four back up now, next?"

"Once you have confirmation of the engine turning back on step five is to keep both engines just above idle"

"Engine four back on, engine two and four just above idle, next?"

"Step six turn on the APU just in case we lost engine power again and to compensate for the other two engines"

"APU on, next?"

"Step seven is to increase power as soon as you see the airport, once there the rest is routine emergency landing procedures"

The flight simulation ends with all lives safe on the ground

"What I don't get is why we couldn't skip the steps I wanted to skip"

"That's easy, if we hadn't done the test of control we might have assumed we had better control than what we ultimately did, either that or not do something that we could have done once near landing, the reason why we turned the engine back on was just in case it was possible to actually do so, the two minutes gives it just enough time to rest and get unclogged if needed, as for going to just above idle that's so that we're not using up emergency fuel if we need to do a go around but at the same time preventing a stall if at all possible, as you stated the APU was in case we suddenly lost the other two engines, plus it turned out to help compensate for the lost engines for the next step, which was to increase power as soon as we saw the airport, if we hadn't done that it turns out that we wouldn't have had enough engine power to make it to the runway and the crash would have been worse"

"I understand now, and of course cutting power to the lost engines also helps prevent fuel and hydraulic fluid loss from those areas"

"Exactly"

"Of course the restart step was just to a certain level that we haven't written down due to giving you the exact same flight as he was on, didn't the notes say something about one engine landing at two thousand feet?"

"Yep, because at that point we're not getting the engine back and we need to make sure we're ready for an emergency landing, and hopefully it's not a ditch landing either"

"By the way, just heard from both the NTSB and the FAA, if the worst had happened and the notebook survived they would have both pushed for these procedures to be mandatory"

"Because of who created them?"

"Nope because it was proven in flight simulators during the investigation that the procedures work if given enough time and also admittedly some luck"

"How bad?"

"Three crashes every seventy simulations with exact same conditions"

"Not as bad as it could be then"

"Exactly, now then below two thousand feet all simulations were fatal but part of that really was because there just wasn't enough altitude to do some of the steps"

The pilot shrugs and then makes a statement that everyone knew was true

"Hey we knew it wouldn't be completely fool proof from the start, every plan made by humans is flawed by nature, there's no such thing as a perfect plan"

"Plus let's face it, no pilot has much maneuvering room below two thousand feet, there's just seconds to do anything if that"

"Exactly"

Meanwhile Korra would finish off the month normally, and then during the second month of summer vacation tragedy would strike the Cybertronian army, two of their leaders would be taken out of commission during a peaceful mission on their part. Optimus and Galvatron were heading to another planet for trade agreements when suddenly an EDC base lost the shuttle signal and immediately sent out a rescue team. When the team arrived at last known coordinates they discovered Galvatron floating in space, surrounded by what was obviously shuttle debris and quickly brought him in, unfortunately the search for Optimus came up missing and since they weren't sure how critical Galvatron was they decided to rush Galvatron to the nearest medical center that could help him and then go back out to search for Optimus. First Aid would ultimately declare Galvatron in an induced emergency stasis that he was unable to wake up from while the EDC was forced to declare Optimus missing and presumed dead


	20. Chapter 20

"What now?"

"Now I remain on Earth and lead from here, Ultra Magnus is going to have to take care of things on Cybertron"

"Understood"

Rodimus then calls Korra to the command center via the comm system, and she arrived minutes later

"You asked for me Rodimus?"

"Yes Korra, you are officially second-in-command of the Cybertronian army with the loss of Optimus and Galvatron in an emergency stasis that the medics cannot wake him up from"

(Sighs) "I was hoping that wouldn't happen, I'm only fourteen, if something happens to you that means I will be made the leader of Cybertron by the time I'm fifteen"

"I know, unfortunately there isn't much choice, you know the laws in this regard"

"Not really, as far as I know you can declare anyone second-in-command and only when you're gone am I automatically made the leader of Cybertron"

"True, up to a certain point...Korra this is the best for everyone, yes your family knows the laws but the rest of the world minus the United States don't fully understand what is happening behind the scenes, they don't understand that all of us are your legal guardians, besides this ways you'll already be slightly familiar with the paperwork"

"Okay you have a point in that regards, I'll do it, I'll become second-in-command"

And so Korra was announced as second-in-command of the Cybertronian army, and that evening started to learn about the paperwork that was required to run the military half of an entire planet, Rodimus deliberately kept her from the planet half of the paperwork knowing that she would have to learn the hard way if it came down to it only because there were no other options. Once summer came close to an end she and those with the proper security clearance met in her quarters on base

"So...you're looking stressed a lot more lately"

"What do you know in regards to my family situation?"

"Not much really, we've been told that you have to take up some duties for some reason"

"Optimus is missing and presumed dead and Galvatron is in emergency stasis that the medics are unable to bring him out of"

"Ouch...wait this means..."

"Yep I am  _very_  close to being the leader of Cybertron, right now though I am second-in-command of the army"

"Understood, looks like we'll need to keep a closer eye on you for a bit and you tell us immediately if you're suddenly the leader of Cybertron"

"Oh don't worry about that you'll be informed as soon as that happens, my family has made sure of it"

"Okay, so one last weekend to be normal, by the way what was with that solid month of rule breaking?"

"Sorry, but the airlines insisted once I was done with school I worked with one of them for a solid month to keep my pilots license valid"

"Okay that makes sense then"

And so Korra relaxes like a normal teenager one last time and then it was back to the school grind with Korra having duties once home and as such got what homework she could done while still at school, but Rodimus always gave Korra whatever time she needed at home for homework knowing that education was important. Unfortunately two months later Rodimus would be abducted in an attack and Korra injured due to the weapons of the enemy, Ratchet and the human medical team kept Korra sedated for three days to allow her body to start healing, all of them knowing that as soon as she found out about Rodimus she would push herself to her limits and beyond, meanwhile Jazz decided to assemble a search team without proper authorization and begin the search for his missing Prime. Three days later Korra would wake up and do exactly as the medics feared she would and go straight to work, discovering the self assigned mission and belatedly giving the needed authorization to do just about anything to bring back Rodimus, she stopped short of torture and killing people deliberately, but they were allowed to arrest suspected conspirators and raid buildings without what amounted to a warrant on any planet they were on. Two days after that Korra decides she  _really_  needed to know what was going on with Galvatron and went straight to the medbay where both First Aid and Ratchet were on duty, but Ratchet was the one who noticed her first and spoke up

"What can we do for you sir?"

"First unless we're in public we stick to status quo on informality, I'll be sending out a memo once I'm back in my office, that means unless absolutely necessary I'm still Korra, second I know you really can't tell me details normally due to doctor/patient confidentiality but I need to know what's wrong with Galvatron"

(Sighs) "I need to know first that you understand that what's going on isn't entirely normal"

"Oh I understand that, I understood the moment I saw the monitors when he was first brought in that something isn't right with his stasis, because he  _is_  in stasis but..."

"That's where things get complicated, normally a medic can bring a patient out of self induced emergency stasis but this time for some reason neither of us can do so, not that being as injured as he was is helping matters but...we should have been able to bring him into normal medical stasis if not just him being asleep by now"

"I see...do what you can for him"

"Will do"

Korra then goes back to the office and starts making arrangements with the school. A week later she's in the office doing paperwork when suddenly the phone rang

_Korra_

"Cybertronian army, this is Kerenai speaking go ahead"

_Person_

"Kerenai this is the President of the United States, where's Rodimus Prime?"

_Korra_

"Captured sir, is there something I can help you with?"

_POTUS_

"I was supposed to finish an agreement with him over the phone, but if you're in charge than the meeting needs to be in person since you are not privy to what we were discussing"

_Korra_

"I understand sir, I can be there in..." (looks at watch) "five hours"

_POTUS_

"Negative, I'm coming to you and will be there in three hours"

_Korra_

"Understood sir, we'll be expecting you"

Three hours later the President arrives and catches Korra up on the agreement that he and Rodimus had been working on and then they finalize the agreement a few hours later, once that was done the President alerted Korra to something she hadn't thought about

"Korra, due to the fact that you are now the leader of Cybertron you need to attend the United Nations meeting that is held every year"

"Oh...yeah I do...this is going to be complicated"

"For both of us, this will be the first time the Secret Service needs to protect the delegate from Cybertron"

"And most world leaders are going to fight about me being leader"

"Not if you play hardball from the start"

"True and that's the plan...am I allowed an honor guard?"

"Yes, no more than five people though"

"Got it, I'll see you at the United Nations meeting then"

When sir?"

"Christmas, things are going on that means the meeting was delayed by choice until then, at least this ways you get to settle slightly in your role as leader of Cybertron"

The President left and Korra slams her hand on the comm system

::Kup, Prowl, Grimlock, Springer, Slag, Arcee, my office,  _now_ ::

Five minutes later everyone was in the office

"I just got reminded that I have to attend the UN meeting that happens every year as the leader of Cybertron, Prowl you're in charge while I'm gone, Slag you are specifically in charge of the Dinobots during that time period, you two are now dismissed"

Prowl and Slag leave letting Kup, Springer, Grimlock and Arcee knowing what was up

"Okay you obviously know that I have chosen you four as my honor guard, there's a few things I want to inform you of, the first is that you are to let the Secret Service do their jobs unless they get in over their heads against our enemies, that is non negotiable and you won't like the consequences if they're disobeyed, Kup as security this is going to be hardest on you but I know you can handle it. Another thing is that many countries will talk behind our backs about my being the leader  _ignore it_ , I will handle things when the time comes to handle them, now then you're dismissed"

Soon enough it was Christmas and Korra was at the UN building and most of the world governments were surprised to see Korra there instead of one of the three leaders, they were also surprised at the Secret Service escort accompanying the honor guard. The first day was the day she played hardball due to the fact that a trade agreement needed signed and France was the one to bring up the argument

"Wait...Kerenai how old are you?"

"Fifteen"

"You're not of legal age to sign this according to the United States"

"Oh...but I am legally able to sign this"

"Says who?"

"Says Cybertronian laws that made me the leader in the first place, now then either you let me sign the agreement or Cybertron will not be part of the trade, _ever_ "

And with that everyone knew that not only did Korra mean business but that she was a capable leader. For the rest of the week she started negotiations with several countries who had been hesitant to make an agreement with Cybertron, but finally did with the understanding on both sides that the agreement was still valid once the true leaders came back. A few days later Korra was still in New York talking with a supplier for the base she was on when suddenly her phone rang and Korra knew it was important since both the school and her family knew she would be in a meeting at the time and as such would never call if they could handle it themselves

"I'm sorry, I need to take this call"

"Of course"

"Kerenai speaking go ahead"

Korra doesn't hear a voice though, instead she hears Morse code letting her know without even the given name that it was Prowl


	21. Chapter 21

 

 

 

_Message_

-.- - .-. .-. .- / .. - .-. ... / .-. .-. - .- .-.. -..- / ..- .-. -. . -. - / ... .. - ..- .- - .. - -. / ... .- ... / -.-. - - . / ..- .-. / - ... .- - / .-. . -.- ..- .. .-. . ... / -.- - ..- .-. / .-. . .-. ... - -. .- .-.. / .- - - . -. - .. - -. / .. - - . -.. .. .- - . .-.. -.-

_End message_

"Understood I'm on my way, try and keep the situation from escalating until I get there"

Korra hangs up the phone and turns her attention back to the person she was meeting with

"I'm sorry, I'm needed back home for something"

"But of course, we're mostly through anyways and can always finish our business over the phone if needed"

"Thanks, I'll call to let you know one way or the other what will happen"

On the flight back home Korra thinks about a conversation she had a few days after the President had visited the base to meet and discuss things with the new leader of Cybertron

_Months earlier_

"It's my show Prime..." (sighs) "Prowl...sorry, normally I would be having this argument with Optimus or Rodimus, maybe even Galvatron"

*I highly doubt they think it a show either*

"It's not that, it's the fact that by Cybertronian law those three are the only ones who outrank me in this exact scenario, however with Rodimus captured, Galvatron in his current condition and Optimus...well you know full well the score on that, it means that I am now in command of the entire Cybertronian army unless I secede command to another person, and right now that's not happening, not even you Prowl can stop me, now than I will accept you and Ultra Magnus as co-commanders after me but that's the most you're going to get from me"

*Very well than, however understand that we're still the ones who are your legal guardians and will act appropriately in those circumstances*

"I know Prowl, I know, but otherwise understand that I'm in charge, for now someone call Cybertron and let Ultra Magnus know I need him on Earth, give him the full report as well so that he understands that he's needed and I am in charge, also have him turn command of Cybertron over to Shockwave until I say otherwise"

*Yes sir*

"And Prowl...I know you don't like the fact that I have decided to meet with the Chief of Police and gang members in order to come to some sort of truce or peace agreement for a while, but I also know that you understand that I don't want a gang war on our doorstep. As a human the gangs might actually listen to me easier than they would have listened to one of the Primes or Galvatron"

*But you're still settling into your position*

"I know that, but this needs to be done and soon"

*Very well, just understand that my protest is on record*

"I know Prowl, I know"

And so Korra meets with the people she was going to meet and a peace agreement is made between everyone. Once she got back she met with Prowl and Ultra Magnus and had Ultra Magnus stay on Earth for three weeks to take command of Cybertron city temporarily while she herself got acquainted with all the bases and how they function. Once that was established she sent Ultra Magnus back to Cybertron letting him know he was in charge of the day to day issues for the planet whenever she was on Earth but to send anything that required her personal signature to her immediately, she also gave Prowl those same orders with the caveat that it was only during school hours that he was in charge of the base

_Present_

Korra soon heard the announcement that they were getting ready to land and as soon as Korra got her things she saw her ride waiting for her, it being a normal car with an EDC officer holding a sign out for her

"Do you know anything about what's going on at base?"

"Not much, what I do know is that there appears to have been a security breach of some kind and we've been locking down the base, Barricade brought his triplets to the human portion of the base for some reason and about two hours ago I was ordered to pick you up since Captain Faireborn is...busy with something"

"Busy?"

What Korra was unaware of was that when the officer was given orders to pick Korra up Captain Marissa Faireborn was giving birth having decided to become a surragat mother for a family, however she had already been in active labor and pushing for an hour by that point and once the officer left the doctors decided that if she hadn't made any progress in half an hour they were going to do an emergency c-section, and an hour and a half after the officer had been given his order Faireborn had been sedated for an emergency c-section and was at the time Korra had landed still unconscious, with the parents waiting for the Captain to wake up so that she could hold the baby she had delivered at least once as thanks for doing what was deemed impossible which was give them a family. Once back at base Korra immediately switched to Cybertronian and talked to the ones at the gate

*Bluestreak, Red Alert, Inferno, status report!*

*Things have stabilized since Prowl called you, no further sign of an intruder*

*Prowl's brought us down from a Red 10 alert to Yellow 10 since this started, we've been at Yellow 10 for about an hour now*

*Orders are that we patrol in groups of three at minimum and except for gate duty do our best to make the patrols random just in case there still is an intruder*

*Understood, Bluestreak, Inferno remain at your posts Red Alert with me, where's Prowl?*

*In the command center*

Korra and Red Alert go to the command center and Korra takes over for Prowl. She handled not only the intruder issue but it also turned out that a company they had been in talks with for a while now would only talk to the leader of Cybertron accepting no substitutes due to the fact that they dealt with high level security jobs frequently, most of them through the military. All of that would take a week meaning her return to school was delayed for a bit but she was still getting her homework through the EDC kids that were completely cleared to know about her situation

"Hey Korra, the teacher said that there's supposed to be a test next week, if needed we'll bring it home in a sealed envelope"

"Shouldn't be needed actually, if things remain calm over the weekend I can turn the base back over to Prowl during the school day starting Monday"

"Bet that's a relief"

"Indeed it is"

"Oh and by the way since we believe you've completely forgotten since you became leader of Cybertron, we've informed those that don't have the proper security clearance to know about you that your family has needed you urgently enough that your one weekend a month free has been suspended until further notice but that they also will ensure that you have a break whenever possible as well"

"Thank you for doing that, I should have thought about that when I first became leader of Cybertron"

"It's okay, those first days were chaotic for everyone, you got the worst of it since you were unconscious for the first three days of your leadership"

"I wasn't happy with the medics initially but later I had to admit that they were right to do so"

"We don't know the extent of your injuries but we were told that you were caught up in the ambush that took Rodimus Prime from the Cybertronians, that you didn't get a chance to activate your powers to protect yourself"

"Not entirely correct, I  _did_  activate my powers but somehow the enemy had weapons that negated those powers, not completely because otherwise I would be dead and the line of succession would have been muddy, but enough to warrant the three day medical sleep"

"And then you had to make arrangements with the school so that you can still attend yet do your job as leader of Cybertron"

"Yes, it's a complicated arrangement, but it works which is all that matters for both sides"

"Well like I said there's a test next week so I hope you've been studying"

"I have don't worry"

Korra would go on to finish the school year almost without incident, she was called during school twice because of one attack and one surprise visit from a foreign dignitary that wouldn't and literally actually couldn't wait for Korra to get home during normal school hours due to the sensitive nature of the intelligence they were passing on

"So...how much trouble are you in for leaving during class? I take that back actually how much trouble are you in for having your cell phone on at all times during the school day?"

"None for both questions, it's part of the agreement I made with school when I suddenly became the leader of Cybertron"

"Why did you suddenly leave this time anyways? I know for a fact that the last time was because of an attack, school was closed and the reason announced, though why we found out a full ten minutes after you got the call is beyond me"

"As for why I left this time I'm afraid that's classified, as for the other issue...that's on my orders which the school agreed with because they understand that I want to make sure that things are relatively under control before releasing you guys from school. You're safer at school if the attack isn't contained then if we let you guys leave"

"Confined area that's easier to protect by surrounding it"

"Exactly"

"Okay that makes sense, so...going to actually take a small break during summer?"

"Nope, running a planet is a full time job, even if I have help with the day to day management, I  _might_  take an afternoon off occasionally but not the kind of break that you're thinking of"

"Will you at least take two days off to attend the graduation ceremony and party of several EDC kids that are going to graduate this year?"

"Yes I will, the Primes and Galvatron always did that, or sent a representative if they themselves couldn't come. I should do the same now that I'm the overall leader of the EDC"

"We've already informed Prowl of the dates so that he's aware that he's going to be in charge on those days"

"Remind me when it gets closer so that I remember, either that or drag me to the events"

Suddenly Prowl walks in and informs her of a problem

*Korra Ultra Magnus just called, the Lintrakins just arrived on planet demanding to know why we have yet to send another representative for a trade agreement talk with them*

(Sighs) *to be honest I completely forgot about them in the immediate aftermath of losing Rodimus, combine getting things settled with the fact that I honestly thought Rodimus had taken care of it when the event first happened and you have a long overdue talk with potential trade allies*

*There's more, they will only do the talks with the leader of Cybertron however...*

*I will go to Cybertron and explain things in person, tell Ultra Magnus to tell the representative of the Lintarkins that the leader of Cybertron will meet with them in two days but that they have a previous engagement to take care of first*

*Previous engagement?*

*Prime Minister of England*

*Right, totally forgot about him*

*Not surprising considering you were completely  _unconscious_  when the arrangements were initially made*

*Still upset about that?*

*Yes, Ratchet said if we had been just a few minutes later you would have ultimately died, even with the family bond supporting you as much as it was, now then I have other things to do so get out of here before I find something else to yell at you about*

As soon as Prowl left Korra refocused on her fellow classmate

"Now then, anything else you were supposed to tell me in regards to school before we were interrupted?"

"Not that I can think of, but be warned even though you've told me that you literally can't take much time off everyone else is still going to do their best to force you to take a proper break during summer, I will stay out of those attempts now that I understand why you're needed in full but even those with the same security clearance might not fully understand until something happens and you're too far away to effectively lead your people"

"Understood, now then I have things to take care of over the weekend, and besides graduation isn't for another five weeks as far as I'm aware so I have time to make the proper arrangements needed"

"Okay, I know better than to be in a room where security issues are being discussed"

"Oh yes...I remember hearing about that"

"It was an accident...sort of"

"Not likely Allison, meetings like that are scheduled well in advance and procedures in place to keep people from the area at least two hours before and after the meeting is scheduled to take place"

"I was looking for my mom three hours before the meeting and fell asleep waiting for her since she told me she was going to be in that room"

"And woke up half way through the meeting interrupting it and a screening needed to know if security was compromised because someone not authorized to hear what was being discussed was in the room"

"Okay, so I admitted that I was in there on purpose, but don't you think it makes sense to double check the room to ensure it's properly secure like it should be?"

"Yes it does, however at the same time you have to understand that depending on how sensitive the nature of the meeting is going to be that kind of delay could be disastrous since there's already a delay to get everyone together"

Two days later Korra was on Cybertron and initially the Lintrakins weren't happy about Korra and were going to go so far as to deny trade negotiations permanently, however Korra put them at ease and once the full explanation was given they agreed to give Korra a chance. Ultimately while the initial meeting did not result in true talks for trade agreements it did set the stage for further meetings on both planets with representatives due to the fact that Korra did need to focus on school during the school year and completely focus on leading her family during the summer


	22. Chapter 22

_First meeting_

"What is this? I was told that I would be meeting with the leader of Cybertron"

"And you are sir, Korra Kerenai leader of Cybertron at your service, at times I am also known as Korra of Cybertron"

"You're human, a human cannot be the leader of a planet made of alien robots"

"Oh I assure you that I am the lawful ruler of Cybertron, my family made sure of that when they adopted me when I was just a baby, now then either we go our separate ways now and the trade negotiations never happen  _or_  you can accept what you see in front of you and we move forward from here"

"I...need time to process this, and I request permission to see the laws that allow you to lead Cybertron"

"Very well, let someone know if you need more time in three hours, Magnus I'm going to visit some places that I haven't seen in a while since I'm here, make sure that the paperwork that you haven't sent me yet is in my office by the time I get back"

"Understood sir"

Three hours later the meeting reconvened with the representative allowing for further conversations in the future, but that the talks needed to be made over time which was agreed by Korra. Once she came back she was greeted to mild routine disruption

"Okay what's going on?"

"We almost lost Prowl to a rookie EDC officer"

"What happened?"

"Prowl suddenly collapsed low on energy,  _dangerously_ low, lower than when you were about six if I were to be honest with you, and unfortunately with very few outside of the Cybertronian army knowing about his allergy..."

"I see where this is headed and you have a good point...oh I've been wondering something, how is Barricade able to have high-grade when he's nearly exactly like Prowl?"

"Ratchet and First Aid found out what was causing his sensitivity and took care of that problem, as for Prowl there's no cure despite efforts to do so"

(Sighs) "of course that would be the case, okay I want an incident report on my desk by the end of the day, tell Ratchet I want a preliminary report on why he was so low on energy by that time as well, full medical report once Ratchet knows he's completely stable and well on the way to recovery"

"Understood...oh and there's a call from the country of India, something about a joint training exercise between the EDC and Indian military"

"Who said what?"

"Kup said that you would call back once available"

"Okay than that's what I'll do after I call school"

"Oh?"

"Yeah...I need forms sent over for one of you to sign in regards to a school activity"

"Okay...oh speaking of, the school says that Ratchet is now forbidden from signing any of the forms"

"Oh?"

"Yep, they called his signature chicken scratch, whatever that means"

As soon as Korra read the report she realized she was going to have to do what the three leaders had refused to do since Prowl's situation had first come up only a few short years ago, she was going to have to make Morse code and sign language mandatory for all EDC officers, and also inform everyone about Prowl's allergy to high-grade

"Ironhide let the base know to check their messages and also get in contact with Faireborn and let her know things are going to change slightly in regards to information passing about my family, Red Alert I have to know if Jazz is still alive since he doesn't send in regular reports"

"He's alive, trust us you would know otherwise because of the bond"

"Not if something happened to two people at once"

"Nope, we can distinguish, or did you forget several years ago?"

"Oh...yeah I forgot"

Korra ended the conversation and then five weeks later attended the graduation ceremony and then the joint graduation party for those that had graduated high school

"Congratulations everyone, I hope you go on to successful lives in whatever you choose to do"

If anyone noticed how melancholic her voice or bittersweet her smile was they didn't say anything because they understood that while Korra was close to her entire adoptive family she was probably missing the three leaders terribly, having been thrust into a leadership role way too soon in their minds, even if it had been for her protection against foreign nations taking her away from her legal guardians. A week later though Korra was  _ticked_  at the American government

"How many times do I have to tell them not happening this summer?"

Prowl who was meeting with Korra for routine base issues put down his pad and asked the dreaded question

*Okay, who and what are they wanting you to do?*

"America, for a training exercise, I either have to do training with the military or join a salmon boat for a month to get an idea of what the Coast Guard enforces in regards to rules and regulations"

*And you don't feel comfortable leaving the base for a month*

"Not now that I'm the leader of an entire planet, either way there's a good chance I'll be out of contact when you need me most and that doesn't sit well with me"

*Korra, we've already adapted to you not being around during the school day, and we've handled you not being here for the UN meeting, I'm sure we can handle you not being here for a month while you do training that quite frankly is still needed*

"Prowl, I know that you're thinking about what's best for me, and I also know you're basing plans off of when the Primes and Galvatron were still alive and all three were busy for long periods of time since the war ended, however do remember that I am your commanding officer and that things are different with a human leader than a Cybertronian leader. I. Can. Not. Leave. For. A. Month. If that ever happens things could fall apart quite quickly simply because of the fact that we're still on slightly shaky ground with several of the countries trusting my actual Cybertronian family members, if not for that issue I would have no problems doing the training but it's just not possible at the moment"

*Korra I could handle the countries easily*

" _No Prowl_ , you can't, they may understand that if the rightful leaders ever come back the trade agreements are still valid, they may even begin to understand the adoption when I was a baby and won't take any further actions to take me away, but they are still nervous and maybe even a bit scared of you guys, I can tell because when the one country had to come here to actually check the process of goods the representative did their best to stay as close to the EDC officers as they could"

What Korra didn't know was that the American President had decided to be the one to handle the other countries while Korra was training (he was the designated representative by the Prime's and Galvatron's choice since she was a year old when they decided to make her the leader of Cybertron if anything happened to them. However they also understood that she might not be old enough, or able for some reason to actually meet with countries and as such made arrangements with the American government that the President in office at the time the situation arose would represent Cybertron's interest to the other countries, including in any United Nations meetings which meant in that week he would be representing two groups instead of one) because there was another reason behind wanting Korra to train besides her needing it for the future, the other reason was because it was specifically designed as a leadership lesson in the Coast Guard or in regards to salmon fishing it was a lesson on how to expect the unexpected which as the leader of Cybertron could happen at any moment. The problem was that that aspect currently wasn't being communicated to her with the requests, and since he was unaware of that fact  _and_  was getting annoyed that she was neglecting training he decided to simply go to the base to get straight answers from her, thus shocking her when she found out who her visitor was

"Mr. President what brings you to my place today?"

"The fact that you keep denying your much needed training"

"I can't afford to leave for a month sir, not with the fact that things still aren't steady between the countries we've recently acquired trade agreements with"

"I'm going to be the designated representative during your month of training, that has been in place since you were a month old"

"I was never informed of this, none of the requests have told me that there was a representative in place already to keep things peaceful between my family and the countries while I was away"

"They were supposed to, and just so you know my being a representative has been in place since you were a year old and the Primes and Galvatron realized that it might be needed if you were forced to become the leader of your family as a minor"

"I see...this doesn't change the fact that I don't feel like I should leave for a whole month since I haven't even been the leader for a year, because while things may have stabilized since then the other countries need confidence in my ability to lead still"

(Sighs) "okay I suggest a compromise, if you take the Coast Guard training we can reevaluate after two weeks, if you take the salmon fishing we'll reevaluate after one trip  _and_  in both cases I will provide you with a satellite phone so that you can be contacted in an emergency and given the fastest method home possible should you be needed"

"Still not quite feasible"

"What other problem do you foresee?"

"Prowl, his being mute could be a potential problem"

"Okay you win that argument, but I also thought you had found a way around that problem"

"We have, but as far as I know you don't know sign language"

"And unless they're absolutely needed for a meeting you don't trust interpreters, despite the strict rules they are under"

"Too risky even under the strict rules, for reasons I can't get into right now"

"Korra...your family wanted you to do the training, the three leaders went to my predecessor and asked for you to do this training at this time period"

(Sighs) "I can't deny their last wishes, but only if you have proof of this"

The President presents the proof that Korra needs which makes her sigh once more

"Very well I will go, but not until I make the proper arrangements"

Suddenly though Korra slams her hand on the communicator

"What's going on Sunstreaker?"

"Ultra Magnus just came from Cybertron, Prowl's delaying him since you're in an important meeting but I don't know how much longer that will last"

Korra gives the President a questioning look and at his nod gives a very relieved answer

"Tell Prowl to escort Ultra Magnus here, there's someone who wants to talk to him"

A few minutes later and Ultra Magnus was just inside the door

"What's going on Magnus?"

"I came here under orders from the Primes and Galvatron"

"What?"

"They told me about the training you were supposed to have the summer you were fifteen, and they also gave me specific instructions if they should be gone and you the leader at that time. They knew that you didn't trust interpreters for reasons that are unknown to me but known to them, as such when Prowl lost his voice I was told that if you should be the leader I was to transfer to Earth to coordinate with the US President of the time for the month you were training. I received a message from Rodimus not long after we lost Optimus and Galvatron to be prepared for this at a moments notice and then the day before we lost Rodimus I received my final orders from a Prime which were to remember their instructions and to look after Cybertron while you were mourning our loss. I was naturally confused until I received a message shortly after Rodimus was captured that stated that he knew he was being followed and was expecting it to happen any day then"

"I see...well this makes things easier ultimately, I will start my month of training on the salmon vessel tomorrow, and before you ask why I chose fishing instead of the Coast Guard it's because I am saving that for next summer, either that or Magnus will have his post extended by a month"

Korra would never finish the training though, which she did undercover by Presidential orders, instead while fishing in relatively mild weather the ship hit a sudden piece of debris and went down fast, fortunately everyone made it to the life boat in time

"So...now what?"

"Now we wait for rescue, you got a mayday out right Captain?"

"Yes I did, however...looks like we're about to hit weather"

"What?!"

Korra takes a look and curses in Cybertronian under her breath

"Well that will delay things"

"Yes it will, fortunately we have supplies that will last us three days at least, and we can fish if needed"

"A week, I managed to grab my back and it has extra food and water, plus if we deny ourselves water the first day that will also help"

"Then we're set...good thing this wasn't damaged"

"Agreed"

Four days later they were simply doing minor tasks to keep themselves busy when suddenly Korra stopped and opened the canopy in full, something they never did as protection against the sun, the most they ever did was open the flap slightly to check if it was day or night and if they saw something on the horizon once every hour to hour and a half. They almost protested except that Korra instantly made them get quiet, they then remembered that Korra had the best hearing out of the group and with her eyes closed they could tell she was trying to listen for something

"Check the horizon and the sky, I think I hear something"

Two minutes later she gets confirmation

"You're right, I see something, but it's a bit too far to tell what it is"

Korra sees that the dot is getting closer yet at the same time not in the right direction

"I see it, and I can easily get it's attention too"

"How?"

"With this"

And saying so Korra brings out a flare gun from her bag, puts a round in it and shoots in the air at an angle. In the Coast Guard chopper

"Flare one o'clock"

"Rodger"

They get to the area of the flare and soon enough there's a rescue swimmer at the life raft

"Is anyone injured?"

"No, all fine minus minor sleep deprivation and possible hypothermia from...two hours ago the idiot"

"Hey I got the fish that we wanted after being tired of your rations"

"Still shouldn't have gone fishing in the ocean due to sharks"

"All right I've heard enough, for now one by one you're going into the basket, possible hypothermia case first then the weakest to the strongest"

"I'm going last period the end of it"

"Morrison..."

"Two things Captain, first off my last name is Kerenai not Morrison, and second of all you're not winning this argument, neither are you seaman"

"Wasn't thinking or saying anything ma'am"

"Good"

An hour later everyone was at the hospital waiting to be allowed to discharge from the hospital

"So...you have a report to write Kerenai"

"Don't I ever, and I have a phone call to deal with as well"

Suddenly the rescue swimmer that saved them showed up

"No need Kerenai, my base commander took care of the call for you and you're in the clear, though, and I am confused by this, I was told to pass on that you are now in a code beta 9 in regards to an earlier conversation that neither of us are privy to and to call home about an incident while you were fishing"

Korra instantly translates that as she was now no longer under mandatory training and could come home if she so chose and that there was either an attack or some other shake up that she needed to be aware of. Once she called she found out that the incident was an explosion at Wheeljack's lab combined with a weapons testing gone wrong all in one day

(Sighs) "I'll be on the next flight out then...no you don't need to send someone here to pick me up...yes I am perfectly aware of that fact...no I am not doing anymore this summer...because quite frankly we can't afford to constantly extend training if things keep going wrong...okay see you then...bye"

Once Korra was discharged she got the earliest flight home possible and was picked up at the airport. Once back at base she got everything settled and then simply spent the rest of the summer being the leader of Cybertron. School started off fairly normal and then in November Korra was called from school three different times due to attacks on base, which unfortunately was only the start of a period of fighting against the Quintessons, mostly guerrilla actions at that. Five months later Korra was in the EDC training room venting

"Korra are you okay?"

"No I'm not"

"Why?"

"Because I shouldn't  _have_  to know how to kill someone five different ways, I shouldn't have to worry about if I'm going to be alive the next day, I shouldn't have to worry about keeping my family safe, I shouldn't have to think about what to do if my home is attacked, I shouldn't have to think about how to budget for necessary supplies...I'm just a kid! I shouldn't have all those and more responsibilities at sixteen, but because of circumstances I have to think about all that and more"

"Korra, how long has it been since you've had a break?"

(Scoffs) "I'm at the point where I don't even know what a break is, Prowl and Ultra Magnus are doing the best they can but they need a break as well and they can also go on longer than I can, Rodimus is still missing and now presumed dead thanks to the search team being missing as well, Galvatron...well he's in no condition to lead either and you know about Optimus Captain Faireborn, the other two  _try_ to let me have some time to just be a kid but it's getting harder and harder as the months go by"

"Korra...do you need me to act as the commanding officer of the EDC while you concentrate on your family? I am asking because I know for a fact that you're also considered the ultimate leader and I'm wondering if that's part of the problem right now, if you're not overloaded"

(Sighs) "I'm afraid that would only temporarily solve our problems at best, make things ultimately worse in a worst case scenario, Ratchet, First Aid and Hook are going to try something new to help Galvatron so that we have a proper leader again, at least once he's fully recovered but for now there's no telling what will happen if we use your suggestion"

"Korra...you need a break, at least for a week, you're going to destroy yourself if you don't"

"Fine, I will tell Prowl and Ultra Magnus that they're in charge for a week and make sure that I go some where's that will force me not to think about leading an entire army"

"Good"

Five months later Korra was once again absent from school for two weeks due to needing to attend the United Nations meeting which was being held on time this year. A month after that Korra had come home from school to pure chaos, and broke the chaos with just one clear order

"Report!"

*Korra, there is a Quintesson vessel heading our ways but it's...off*

"How so Prowl?"

*The signal it's sending, it's...take a look for yourself*

Korra looks and is shocked

"That's the old Cybertronian signal for a peace envoy..."

Korra goes into thinking mode and no one dare disturbs her

"Armed escort to our location and the people on the ground are also armed in case they decide not to surrender peacefully"

Twenty minutes later the shuttle was on the ground and Korra had a bull horn

"This is Korra Kerenai leader of Cybertron, come out with your hands up and you won't be harmed! I repeat come out with your hands up!"

The door opens and everyone drops their weapon in shock because the first person they see is Jazz helping support Rodimus Prime and right behind those two were two more search team members supporting Optimus Prime. Korra let them come to her and then spoke up

"Optimus, Rodimus, it's good to see you alive, Rodimus Galvatron is still in a coma and then once you're cleared I have things I need to discuss with both of you, but for now...welcome home"

The two are taken to medical and then once cleared Optimus reveals that he was the only one able to wake up Galvatron and quickly did so

"Optimus...how long have I been unconscious?"

"I am unsure Galvatron, since the day of the attack at least, you were rescued while I was taken prisoner"

"It's been just over two years since that day, now then  _you_  Galvatron have therapy before you're cleared, Optimus and Rodimus are cleared for full duty"

"Then we have a debrief to attend"

And so five hours later Korra had finished the debriefing process revealing that there were also new trade agreements. Once that was done the two Primes decided that Korra would remain the leader while they transitioned back into their proper roles, with the eventual goal of freeing Korra from her responsibilities that she had held for just over two years


	23. Chapter 23

"So, we're agreed on how this will go then?"

"Yes, now then hopefully we'll be fully transitioned by January, but don't be surprised if we need just a little longer than that, but no later than by the time you're seventeen and a half, minus helping once Galvatron is cleared for duty again"

"But of course, oh and by the way you aren't going to be signing  _any_ paperwork from Earth for at least two weeks, possibly a month, Cybertronian paperwork will take about four days"

"What for?"

"Red tape involved in declaring you guys alive, I can push the Cybertronian paperwork, not Earth paperwork, in the meantime you can look at old reports to catch up"

Suddenly Korra presses a button and without looking up speaks

"Mirage if that's not the energy plant security report you're in trouble"

"Good thing it's half of what I got then so I'm not in as much trouble as I could be, as I was on the way home from the security plant I discovered possible trouble, here's both reports"

Korra looks up and is given one pad and then when she reads the second pad she has a sharp intake of breath and speaks in an urgent voice

"Confirmed?"

"Not yet"

"Two days and then I want that report on the new situation, in the meantime I'll read the energy plant report"

Once Mirage leaves she reads the energy plant and discovers that it's a medium risk target and so plans to have normal EDC officers there when the Russian President visits in a week and then simply has to wait and see if a Quintesson base or factory was a confirmed report by either Mirage or an EDC officer part of Spec Ops. After a few moments she turns her attention back to the Primes

"Now then, like I said you can look at old reports to catch up for now,  _after_  you finish filling out this paperwork which will get you guys declared alive again. I promise to push the Cybertronian paperwork through as fast as I can and will let you know when it goes through"

Two months later she's celebrating Christmas with her entire family for the first time in a very long while when suddenly a courier shows up

"Yes?"

"You have a message"

"Okay, what is it?"

"Here it is, it's...the person who gave it to me said that it was triple coded sealed and a fingerprint scanner needed to even open the box"

Korra opens the box and decrepts the message and then goes back to the party, having been forced to do this in secret since none of the three leaders were allowed to deal with any paperwork yet. Back when they first came back Korra had indeed pushed the Cybertronian paperwork through after four days, getting the three leaders legally declared alive again, however that was the limit of what they could do since it was explained to Korra that paperwork signing wasn't allowed until it went through on Earth, then there was the fact that Galvatron was still in physical therapy having only just gotten to the point of standing up with assistance, he still couldn't walk and if he tried to stand up on his own he immediately collapsed, but it was a start at the very least and that was what was most important in everyone's minds

"Hey guys, sorry about that, I know this is just supposed to be a party, however Primes, Galvatron I have messages and data pads to give to you guys, once you log in you'll see what the pads are for, but for now the messages are basically welcome back to the land of the living, there's more but that's for your eyes only"

What Korra didn't know was that they were filling out paperwork that gave them back their security clearance since all that had been done so far was declaring the Primes and Galvatron legally alive again. The three leaders filled out the paperwork and then knew they would have to wait until they could send the forms in to the proper people, but at least they were one step closer to fully being allowed to do their jobs again, but in the meantime Korra was still the main person in charge of Cybertron as a whole. Five months later they were fully transitioned back into their jobs with Galvatron able to get around with mild assistance in that he used crutches if he had to walk a certain distance, but was getting stronger and going farther each day, Ratchet predicted that eventually he would be able to walk without any assistance and just a possible slight limp that had developed during therapy

"You've done enough Korra, you've been strong during this time but finally you can stand down from the position of leader of Cybertron and the three of us will fully take over that job once more"

"Don't be surprised if I try and help sometimes still I...I was the leader for so long that this transition has been difficult"

"I'm sure it has been, and we fully understand that you might not fully step back, but we  _are_  going back to the original arrangement as much as possible with one small change at least initially"

"What change?"

"Two weekends a month to start out, you need it Korra due to hardly having a break while you were the leader of Cybertron"

"Not going to work"

"Why not?"

"Because during the transition period I was forced to start an undercover job and I have yet to complete it"

(Sighs) "should have known that would happen"

"Not my fault that there seems to be increase in hit men that are targeting EDC officers and their families, either that or police officers who work closely with the EDC"

"Very well"

A month later a huge change would happen in her investigation in that she would be getting major help from a police department also working on the problem from a different angle than she was

"Okay, so we'll meet again tomorrow?"

"Sorry I have things I have to do tomorrow, how about two days from now?"

"Okay that will work, same time as today?"

"Sure"

Two days later the two meet and Korra is given money and that's when two different teams go into action each taking their opposite target

"Hey what is this?"

"That's what I want to know, I take money and am arrested?"

"I give you money and  _I'm_  arrested?"

That gives the whole group pause and with a silent agreement they go to a private area

"Okay, what gives?"

"I'm doing an undercover sting operation to catch hit men"

"And I'm doing an undercover sting operation to catch those hiring hit men"

After hearing that both groups have a laugh to break up tension that had been building from the beginning

"Sorry officer I'm never told of police investigations, mainly because technically I'm still a minor, granted I'm also an EDC kid and have proper clearance to know everything in the military and police worlds, but my family and I agreed that if I don't need to know I'm not told anything"

"Well I wasn't told about you either"

"Yeah and you wouldn't have been actually seeing as how this is technically an EDC case and police and EDC are separate groups who don't talk to each other except at need"

"Which probably needs to change after this"

"Probably"

"By the way how old are you?"

"Seventeen, turn eighteen in about six months, but seventeen is still considered a minor"

"Okay, you shouldn't be cleared for everything you are cleared for"

"Classified, only your Captain and Chief know why I have such high clearance I'm afraid"

"Understood, won't ask again, but if I need to know I can be told correct?"

"Yes there is such a thing as need to know permission"

It would turn out that the officer did need to know about why she had such high security clearance and it was a shock to him, fortunately with his help by the time school started her ring of hit men were taken down and she had one less worry about the school year

"So now that that's taken care of what next?"

"Simply finish my senior year of high school, maybe even have it a normal school year, the likes I haven't had in a very, very long time"

September saw her going to the UN meeting once more only to ensure that the transition for the leaders was truly as smooth as it had seemed, and to formally announce her position in stepping down from the leadership of Cybertron, having to do so in a formal setting simply for symbolic and personal reasons

"Kerenai, you are formally stepping down?"

"Yes, to be honest I have stepped down for a few months now, however I felt like I had to formally announce it to the United Nations so that you know for sure that what I say to you is true. I am letting Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime and Galvatron lead Cybertron like they were before the terrible series of events happened that forced me into the leadership position"

"We accept your formal resignation of leading Cybertron and also recognize the two Primes and Galvatron as the rightful leaders of Cybertron, you have done your people proud while you lead them Kerenai, and I'm certain the three leaders have acknowledged that in their own ways"

"They have, now then don't forget what you have learned through me"

"We won't...though Kenya requests a new trade agreement with Cybertron if the four of you can meet at your convenience"

"And just why do you need Kerenai?"

"It involves EDC kids as she has called them in the past and we want to make sure that we won't do anything that is detrimental to them, we have a pretty good idea already that it will be great for Cybertron and Kenya, the kids are the major unknown factor"

Once the main portion of the UN meeting was over with the two groups met and Korra confirmed that everything would be fine for the EDC kids, though she did caution to be careful about how fast the trade agreements went simply because of the fact that Kenya might not be able to meet with a high demand for a few years and Cybertron would struggle with surplus at the same time


	24. Chapter 24

"This is to protect both sides, because while it wouldn't be noticeable at first it could start affecting some of the younger and unborn EDC kids in the future, as for Kenya..." (winces) "I don't think you want to know how bad it could get if we're not careful"

"We will be, and now that we have the EDC kid question settled we will deal with the three leaders only in the future, you were only needed for their protection"

"I understand and agree whole heartily"

The next two and a half months passed smoothly and then it was Korra's eighteenth birthday and the entire base had a big party to celebrate Korra becoming an adult and as for Korra herself she privately celebrated another year of not being the leader of Cybertron

"So...eighteen huh?"

"Yeah, there were a few times I wondered if I would make it"

"Yes, we've read the reports"

"Oh I knew that you would, just wasn't sure when you would get to them"

What Korra was talking about was primarily the reports both before and after her first UN meeting at fifteen because that fall and winter were really bad in personal attacks, and the summer of her sixteenth year shortly before the three leaders and the search team came back there was a base attack that injured her because the enemy had countermeasures to her powers

"We read those reports about a week ago"

"Understood, now then I'm also going out with some fellow EDC kids that have the clearance needed to know everything about me, I'll be back by midnight"

Korra goes out to the movies and then dinner and while at dinner asks a very common question to the rest of the seniors, even if the question is asked closer to the graduation date

"So what are everyone's plans once you graduate?"

They tell of various plans once graduation hits, some were planning on college, two were planning on becoming firefighters, one was hoping to be a paramedic while the rest were picking the choices most expected of them, the EDC

"What about you Kerenai?"

"I'm going to keep my plans to myself for just a little longer, I need confirmation on something first before I reveal my plans for after graduation"

Finally though she got test results back from a secret medical check she scheduled due to her body acting weird for a few months and it came back mostly clear and wouldn't prevent her from her job, the reason she was tired, hungry and achy all the time for several months was because of a rare but treatable disease and she had taken care of the treatment herself the entire time

"Well now that I'm medically cleared all I have to do is keep my plans a secret just a little bit longer than then reveal what I'm going to do when I graduate"

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the person) Korra's plans were leaked to her family not long before she put them into motion and the three leaders asked her to come to their office to talk to her in private

"So how will she take this?"

"Who knows, we only found out by accident ourselves"

"True enough true enough"

They soon hear Korra knock on the door and quickly give her permission to enter

"You wished to see me?"

"Yes, close the door, there's something we need to talk about in regards to your future"

"What is it?"

"You're thinking about joining the military once you graduate aren't you?"

"Yes, I am, how did you know?"

"We recently found out by accident, however how we found out isn't why we called you here"

"Then why did you call me?"

"Before you sign the paperwork the three of us have a request of you"

"What's that?"

"Take a year for yourself and travel after graduation, explore what you've missed due to not having a typical teenager's life. Find out what Korra Kerenai wants, not what she feels is expected of her due to her family, then once a year has passed reflect on your experience and decide if the military is truly what you want"

"I can do that I guess"

"Good, though we do have one other request in regards to your travels"

"What's that?"

"Find a way of celebrating your fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays, even if it's by proxy through another person"

And so Korra does indeed spend a year traveling and finding out what she wanted from life, and part of that came from helping in a disaster area for a solid month, but finally she came home and after reflecting on her experiences realized that she truly did want to join the military, not because it was expected of her but because it was her own desire to serve her country in that capacity

"So...you've made a decision then"

"Yes, I'm joining the Army, I felt...a need to serve my country while I traveled, the month spent in the disaster zone helped teach me what I truly wanted to do with my life, and the celebrations I attended, not just the two birthday celebrations but also a few others that I came across during my travels also taught me about myself and what I enjoyed or didn't enjoy"

"You learned much on your journey didn't you?"

"Yes I did, much of what I learned is internal though and I don't exactly have the words to explain it"

"Well we won't stop you, and in fact we couldn't have stopped you after graduation, but we're glad you took us up on our suggestion"

"It was a good suggestion too, I needed it more than I realized due to how...fast I had to grow up in order to lead an entire planet"

"And you were already more mature than most people your age, even if it was no longer as drastic due to Captain Faireborn"

"True enough, now then I have paperwork to sign and then I have training to get through"

"Which you'll easily pass all things considered"

"They'll still break me down to build me back up as a soldier"

"True, and you might need it due to how strong willed you have been forced to be, but they might also have the clearance to understand that you led an entire planet on your own for two years and helped for a third while the real leaders transitioned back into their leadership roles"

A month later and Korra Was. Not. Happy. With what was going on at the moment, she and her fellow recruits (who had automatically been given the proper security clearance to train with her) had been abducted in the middle of the night and were now entering their fifth day of torture for information almost no one had

"Guys Kerenai isn't back from her daily session yet"

"They've been going longer and longer each time, I think...I think they're reaching the point where we won't see her for days at a time and her condition is terrible when we do"

Suddenly Korra is brought back between two of their captors with a third leading the group and is none too gently tossed back into the cell

"Here's your friend, maybe tomorrow she'll finally give in and give us what we want, after all no one can last forever against torture, she'll break sometime"

Korra wasn't unconscious like her captors thought though and spoke up finally

"You...wish...creeps"

"We'll just see won't we?"

Once their captors are far enough away they feels secure that they won't be overheard one of her fellow trainees finally voices the question everyone had been wondering since day two of captivity

"Okay  _how_  are they not breaking you with physical pain Korra?"

"Two different reasons, the first is that from a young age I was forced to learn how to handle torture, though I won't explain why that was necessary, just know it was done in a safe environment, the second is because of an accident when I was eight which caused major nerve damage in certain areas"

_Eight years old_

"Korra, are you sure you'll be alright?"

"I'm sure Ratchet, I know you're worried since this is the first time away from family but it's a school function and everyone at the camp is certified in first aid and CPR, besides it's only for a week"

"But the time of year..."

"Don't worry there's a constant watch for fires I promise"

"Very well, I know that the Primes or Galvatron wouldn't have approved if they hadn't checked things out before it's just..."

"It's just that you care about me and worry like you worry about the rest of my family whenever they're away"

"Exactly, and with Barricade's near loss still fresh..."

"Don't worry, everything will be fine I promise, I admit I'm still worried about him but he would want me to continue with my original plans

"You win Korra, I will  _try_  not to worry so much about you because you're right, Barricade would want us to go on with your plans, might even tell us himself once he isn't quite so...busy with his triplets"

"Exactly"

Korra goes to the camp but everything wasn't fine, during camp an explosion happened and when she came to, she was very confused to see herself surrounded by buildings. Over the next few days she discovered that she was ten years into the future, what she wasn't sure of was if she was in an alternate dimension, she also discovered something very disturbing shortly after finding out how far into the future she was through a child

"Mommy, why are the Autobots attacking us?"

"I don't know the full story honey, but what I do know is that ten years ago they were attacked and a virus was introduced, the Decepticon half of the Cybertronians are trying to find a cure even to this day but so far no luck"

Once Korra hears this she immediately finds an EDC officer and asks to speak with the person in charge, who just so happened to be Captain Faireborn who was shocked to see her

"Korra? How? You died, you've been dead ten years now"

"No, just sent to the future, I need to speak with Galvatron immediately"

"He's dead, he died six months ago"

"Starscream?"

"In surgery after the last battle"

"Please tell me I can speak with Shockwave"

"Yes actually, but he won't be too happy to be disturbed...but he might make an exception for you"

Fifteen minutes later they were at Shockwave's lab

"Shockwave, there's someone here to see you"

"Tell them to come by later, I'm working on another antivirus"

Marissa starts to speak up but Korra beats her to the punch

"I can help Shockwave, you know I can"

Shockwave turns to face the door and is shocked at who he sees

"Korra?"

"Hey Shockwave, I know you think me dead, but that story is for after the virus is taken care of"

"I might have something, but every time I think I do it doesn't work"

"I have a question, how guilty did you guys feels after I disappeared?"

"The Autobots took it the hardest but we weren't happy either"

"I think the virus worked on their guilt, give me someone and we'll try my voice with the new antivirus"

"This is Shockwave, I need an Autobot to test a new antivirus"

"Understood"

Two hours later he hears back a shocking report

"Got you three Autobots Shockwave, Blaster, Bumblebee and Ratchet"

"Bring them here, if this works than we'll have Ratchet take over for Hook in surgery"

The three are brought to the lab and Korra stays silent initially while the antivirus is given

"Hey guys, it's Korra...I know you thought me dead but that wasn't the truth, I will explain everything later but for now please come back"

The three are eventually brought back and demand answers which they don't get. Ratchet finishes Starscream's surgery and then they go into overdrive to give the rest of the Autobots the antivirus, during that time Korra got major burns against the enemies that gave the Cybertronians the virus in the first place and it took almost a month for her to heal. Three months after that the rest of the Autobots were freed and Korra told her story, after that Wheeljack, Perceptor and Hook manage to bring Korra back to the point of the explosion where her family is called immediately afterwords and Ratchet was naturally there and asked an obvious question

"Korra, why do you have burns that according to my scans have been healed for approximately six months now?"

(Sighs) "That's a long story Ratchet and ties in with a possible future enemy"

Korra tells them the story about her adventures in the future and her family promises to keep an eye out for that specific enemy just in case

_Present_

"And that's basically the story, this group is mainly focused on beating my face and stomach, oh and trying to use burning wax on my hands and feet"

"Which means you're not feeling most of the torture anyways and what you do feel you're trained for"

"Exactly"

"It also explains just why you get checked out on a regular basis after any sport you play"

"Yup because I have been known not to notice an injury because of said nerve damage"

"So...I know it isn't very likely anyone has been able to really think through our torture sessions, but does anyone have even a start of an escape plan or at least something to make our lives a little less miserable until possible rescue?"

"Oh...I started formulating an escape plan on day two...just haven't quite gotten one solidified yet, but I'm working on it"

"How are you doing that through torture sessions which are worse than any of ours, or did you forget I saw the one session on our third day of captivity?"

"Now  _that_  I'm not explaining since you should already know the answer to that question, or at least you already know a partial answer"

The person who asked the question thought about it and then nodded in realization

"You're right, we were told and I did read the reports, this situation has made me forget a lot of what we've been learning in the past month though"

"Well for now I want everyone to hold tight until I have a solid plan and once we make our escape then you really need to remember your training"

"What's the plan if you can't actually tell us your ideas?"

"Oh don't worry, you'll find out the plan" (to herself) "one way or another you'll find out"

What none of the recruits knew though was that this was no longer a training exercise, the training portion was only the original two days, during the night, before they would have been woken up by their instructors and told that the exercise was over a group came in and killed the instructors and had continued the interrogation for their own reasons, and had progressively gotten worse, especially on Korra who they noticed was the most defiant in torture sessions for a reason. Even Korra who was trained to recognize such signs was unaware they were no longer in a training environment, mostly due to the fact that the drugs she was being given were affecting her ever so slightly

"For now though we all need rest, tomorrow's going to be another long day"

"Yes, yes it is"

The next day Korra finally discovers that she's being drugged and starts the countermeasures that she had been taught a long, long time ago allowing her to develop an escape plan faster than before and finally also allowed her to realize that they were no longer in a training session, they were being interrogated for real and needed to escape and return to the base for real, but she also knew that by now a search team had been started so that was a good thing in her mind since it meant that they might meet the team halfway back to base and training. Two days after her discovery she finally finished making the escape plan in her mind, now all that was needed was a chance to tell the rest of the group

(Thinks) " _Okay now then, hopefully once their done I go back to my cell like normal, even though I've been gone longer each time, but no matter what they'll get the plan...even if I die doing it_ "

Fortunately she was taken back to the cell,  _un_ fortunately she was unconscious for a whole day which meant the escape plan was delayed for two since Korra realized she needed to recover her strength once she woke up, finally though she knew that even if it was in pain she could move

"Okay, now that I'm mobile again here's the plan"

And so she explains her plan and they execute it that night, four days after their escape they finally meet friendly forces and Korra is the only one who doesn't resist the restraining efforts and has to let her fellow recruits know to stop fighting

"Stop resisting...guys stop resisting it's only making things worse! I'll handle things, code Foxtrot 59-112-24, training officers dead all recruits alive if injured, full report once back on base...and not under the influence of painkillers, injury reports will be immediate though starting with me which is extensive due to prolonged torture more severe then other recruits"

(Sigh of relief) "Kerenai...we were starting to give up hope I'm afraid, our search teams..."

"I'm sure I can guess, they found the trainers didn't they?"

"Yes, and while we were still looking we cut our search hours by half and apparently in the wrong direction too"

Finally everyone was back at training and being taken care of, Korra did indeed report everyone's injuries immediately to the best of her abilities, and with herself she mentioned everything including being drugged. Once she was medically cleared she gave a full report. She and her fellow trainees were held back due to what had happened and were told in private that all SERE (Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape) training was suspended until further notice and has been since they had gone missing almost fourteen days after their assigned training session which was only supposed to be two days


	25. Chapter 25

"That makes sense, so is it safe to assume that SERE isn't being continued still?"

"Yes, oh and everyone is behind in training due to what's happened"

"We know, we'll catch up eventually"

Suddenly the base commander shows up

"Kerenai there's a message for you, unfortunately the only thing legible is your name, everything else on the page is a mess that no one can read"

Korra takes one look at the page and then simply sighs in obvious frustration

"Why is it that no one recognizes Morse anymore"

"Morse? Do you mean as in Morse Code?"

"That's exactly what I mean, granted the translated message might not make sense to anyone but me anyways but still, everyone should recognize Morse code just in case"

"Except no one teaches it anymore, how do you recognize it anyways?"

"If you don't know than that's classified slightly, as for it not being taught...nothing I can do about that since I have no influence in the military"

"Can you translate it and then tell me what it says if it's important?"

"Don't worry I know the rules regarding this type of communication, if you need to know something I will tell you what it is"

_Message_

-.- - .-. .-. .- / .. - .-. ... / .-. .-. - .- .-.. -..- / .- ... / ... - - -. / .- ... / -.- - ..- / .- .-. . / ..-. - ..- -. -.. / .- .-.. .. ...- . / -.-. - -. - .- -.-. - / ..- ... / - - / .-.. . - / ..- ... / -.- -. - .- -..- / .- .-.. ... - / -. - - . / - ... .- - / .-. . .-. ... - -. .- .-.. / .. ... ... ..- . / -... .- -.-. -.- / ... - - . / - .. -. ... - / -. . . -.. / -.- - ..- .-. / .- - - . -. - .. - -. -..- / .. -. ...- - .-.. ...- . ... / -... .- .-. .-. .. -.-. .- -.. . -..- / ... .. ... / - .-. .. .-. .-.. . - .-. ... -..- / - - ... . .-. / . -.. -.-. / -.- .. -.. ... / .- -. -.. / - -. . / - ..-. / - ... . / - .-. .- -.. . / .- -. .-. . . - . -. - ... / ..-. .-. - - / .- ... . -. / -.- - ..- / .- - - . -. -.. . -.. / -.- - ..- .-. / ..-. .. .-. ... - / ..- -. / - . . - .. -. -.

_End message_

"It's all personal sir, nothing that involves you from what I can tell of the message"

"Understood, you have two hours to have an initial handle on the message, if you need more time let someone know"

"Understood sir"

An hour and a half later everything was resolved without Korra leaving, it turned out that part of the problem was a slight mistranslation within the two groups involved in the trade agreement which meant neither side was properly communicating, the other problem was that everyone involved had unfortunately been unaware of the regular visits that were being done even after four years of trust between the two since they were done entirely in secret, that policy would have to change for everyone's safety in the future but it was understandable. Finally Korra and her group graduated from basic training and the President came to congratulate everyone, but as soon as Korra read his field she had one thought and one thought only going through her mind

(Thinks) " _The moment I get my chance I am going to kill him_ "

She then pays attention to the Secret Service and her eyes narrow into tiny slits

(Thinks) " _So they're aware of the situation as well, and don't like it, okay change of plans talk to the Secret Service_ first  _and_ then _kill him_ "

That night she gets her chance and immediately finds the Secret Service detail and wakes them up

"Two things, first off I am killing that guy tonight and second of all do you know where the real President is?"

"No we have no clue where the real President is otherwise we'd be looking for him ourselves"

"Okay that just makes my job a little harder than, for now I have an impostor to kill...wait two quick things, first does the Vice-President know about the impostor?"

"Yes, his hands are as tied as ours in regards to obeying that guy and ours even more so since we're his protection detail"

"Okay, and the second thing is that I need you guys to do something that will be even harder than protecting the impostor for the moment"

"What's that?"

"I need you to announce that the President has been assassinated and that there is a shoot to kill on site for me...I know you don't want to do this but if that impostor has friends we don't want them to know that we were aware the entire time that the country is following an impostor, that would make my job of actually finding the President ten times harder...when do you get proof of life?"

"Every two days at least, it's no later than four depending on various things going on at the time"

"Okay then, give me ten hours head start if you can, if not at least try and give me four"

"Will do, good luck Kerenai"

"Thanks, I think I'll need it"

"Wait...what about your family?"

"When was there a meeting last?"

"Yesterday"

"Then they already know about the impostor and haven't done anything simply because of the fact that either they figured I would do something or they knew it would be discovered eventually by someone else without risking a whole lot of lives on their part"

"We still need to let them know the truth just in case?"

"Tell them that it's a code Quintesson Prime...they'll understand what you mean trust me"

"If you're sure about this"

"Oh I'm positive"

"Before you do this Kerenai I want assurance that you're doing your best to find him whenever you're not getting shot at"

"Daily phone calls for the moment, that will change at a moments notice at need though and you will be told through the last daily phone call what the new routine is, as for me I am going to have to rescue the President to get your orders rescinded and my rank properly reestablished"

"If the President truly is dead the Vice President is ready to give you a pardon and get your life back in order, he knew you would probably detect the impostor as well"

"And it actually is the Vice President?"

"Oh yeah, we actually have a Cybertronian guard on him right now that will tell us the instant that changes"

"Okay, if POTUS is truly dead than the Vice President will work once he's sworn into office, for now though we both have a job to do"

"Kerenai...you might not be able to use your abilities to survive"

"I know, but like I said we both have a job to do, I have an impostor to kill and then you guys have your own rules and regulations to follow once the impostor is 'discovered' dead"

"True, but again we'll buy you as much time as possible"

"I know"

And so that night began Korra's six month journey to find the real President and find out the truth in regards to if he was alive or dead, in the meantime the Vice President had taken up office, but had stated that it was only temporarily for the moment since he didn't feel it was right to actually be the President, his excuse was that Korra had been loyal up until she "killed" the "President" and he wanted straight answers from her before fully accepting the mantle of Presidency. The rest of the world leaders were also hesitant on believing she had truly turned traitor seeing as they knew Korra had led an entire planet for a brief period of time and as such her actions were highly abnormal and had a possible deeper meaning that they were not privy to at the moment, they followed America's lead only to help her in her secret quest if that was what was going on with her. During her search the Vice President actually had to order Korra to the White House just to make sure she was okay

"It's been almost six months Kerenai... _six months_ , I want you to give me a report, in person,  _tomorrow_...no you can't get out of this I need to make sure you're okay...I don't  _care_  about the regular reports over the phone it's not the same as an in person report...sneak in somehow due to the orders...no you aren't winning this fight...by the way your family wants to see you as well...fine I'll tell them you don't want to see them in person but they're getting a recording of the meeting tomorrow...see you tomorrow Kerenai"

He hangs up the phone and then looks at his head of security with a pure look of frustration

"How did the Cybertronians raise such a stubborn person?"

"No idea sir, glad you convinced her to come here though"

"Basically had to order her actually"

"Not surprised since she was  _really_  determined to find the President from day one"

"Let's just hope she's doing okay because if not..."

"You're not going to succeed in ordering her around are you?"

"Nope, because the President does need to be found, dead or alive, he needs to be found for the country's sake"

"Hopefully this will end soon, she's so young to have such a big responsibility"

"She's had bigger responsibilities at an even younger age Marcus, from the age of fourteen, almost fifteen to shortly after she turned seventeen she was leading an entire planet, even if she was having behind the scenes help as she was nearing seventeen"

"I forgot about that actually"

"Figured you had"

The next day Korra snuck into the White House and she looked tired and thin and the Vice President decided to ask her directly how she was doing

"Have you been eating?"

"Yes, even if for the past two months it's only been one meal a day I have been eating"

"Where are you getting your food?"

"Food vendors, and before you ask I have my ways of getting money for said vendors, however as for why I haven't had more meals it's not for lack of trying, police have almost caught me a few times when I have tried to sit down and eat, thus resorting to the vendors for the past two months"

"And sleep?"

"Various places, some of them not so safe so it's not good sleep, but something is better than nothing"

"Stay here for the day then"

"Sorry sir, but you know as well as I do that it's too risky, there's too many people who don't know the truth, I need to get going"

Korra starts to leave but is stopped by her temporary Commander-in-Chief

"Kerenai...be careful out there"

"As careful as I can be sir, don't worry I have a pretty solid lead this time, as such I  _will_  be back soon,  _with_  the President I promise"

A week later and Korra finally finds and rescues the President, his condition wasn't the greatest however and as such she had to use deception in the hospital so that he could get treatment  _and_  not be arrested while doing so, but finally three days after being rescued and six months after her journey began the President was strong enough to be released from the hospital and Korra got a rental car to get back to Washington D.C.


	26. Chapter 26

"So you're going to need paperwork dealt with aren't you Kerenai?"

"Yes sir I am, but it's so worth it to find you alive and well...sort of"

"I'm better than when you rescued me at least"

"True enough, now all that's left is a very long drive ahead of us"

And it was a long drive, due to his injuries the President couldn't handle traveling for longer than four hours at a time and so it took a week to get back when normally it would have only been a day or two. Korra and the President had to sneak in due to everything that was going on but that was expected for Korra considering her current situation, but the Vice President was very welcoming

"It's good to see you alive sir"

"It's good to  _be_  alive, and the group that took me captive and inserted an impostor is for sure taken care of?"

"Yes, what Kerenai didn't take down I did, silently and carefully"

"Well for now we have to get Kerenai back into proper status and get me legally declared alive again"

"Agreed, and Kerenai, this time it's an order, you are  _staying_  here at the White House while we get this entire mess cleared up"

"Yes...sir...will...comply...night"

And with that Korra falls asleep in the Oval Office with the President not that far off himself. It would take another three weeks for everything to fall into place but finally the Vice President could hold a press conference to not only declare that the actual President was alive but that Korra had acted in the interest of the country killing the impostor almost seven months earlier and had been acting under orders three days into her self assigned mission (it had taken that long for the Vice President to actually get back into the Oval Office to formally take command of the country, even if he had started his duties days earlier during the initial confusion)

"So ready to be a normal citizen again?"

"Are you ready to run a country again?"

"Yes, though John will help with the transition for a few more days at least"

"I'm not quite as prepared, the country may know the truth finally but actual trust will still take time within the unit I am ultimately assigned to"

"If need be I will help smooth things over"

"It shouldn't be necessary...and Mirage  _you_  can stop using your device which makes you invisible while Jazz can come out from behind the trees and let the rest of his group know that I am truly starting to recover from my ordeal and am well for the most part. By the way what are you doing on Earth anyways?"

Both come out of hiding as requested and then Jazz uses the family bond to make contact with Prowl

/Prowl, Korra busted Mirage and I and says she's doing okay, looks thin and tired to me but all things considered she's probably right in declaring that she's okay/

/Understood Jazz, I will let the Primes and Galvatron know that she's almost back to her normal self minus what naturally happens when on the run for a long period of time/

While Jazz was talking to Prowl Mirage was talking to Korra

"Jazz asked me to come after you pulled your little stunt with the impostor, wanted an extra eye on the lookout for you basically if possible"

"Makes sense I guess"

Finally they got the signal that the press conference was beginning and waited for their signal to come out from where they were, and when the Vice President announced his news everyone was scrambling for permission to get their questions answered, and they were with the conference finally ending two hours after it had begun

"So tomorrow you go to your new unit then"

"Yes Jazz, tomorrow, oh by the way I need to know if there's any heat I need to take on now that I am in the clear"

"Not that I'm aware of, minus the Primes and Galvatron, but they allowed me to tell you what they thought about this, they said and I quote 'if you  _ever_  think about sacrificing yourself like this again we will hunt you down and keep you at home until you change your mind, and if need be we'll send you to Cybertron so that they have a turn at lecturing you' they also said that there are no policies you need to take the heat for as of yet while you were leader of Cybertron"

The next day before Korra's unit met her her commanding officer had a meeting

"Okay everyone, we're getting Korra Kerenai into our unit, now then if you've pain attention to the news you know a lot about her already, here's the deal, you may not trust her immediately, and you may not like her, but you  _will_  at the very least respect her as a person and not provoke her into a fight. She sacrificed a lot for this country going in knowing the cost"

"When will she arrive?"

"Two hours from now depending on traffic"

An hour and a half later Korra was meeting her new unit and could instantly tell that there was tension in the ranks with her addition, she took it calmly however having known that that would most likely be the case, trust was going to be hard to earn, but she didn't regret the choice she had made back when she had killed the impostor and put the Vice President in charge of the country


	27. Chapter 27

"Korra Kerenai reporting for duty sir"

"Yes, I was told you were coming...you're early"

"Don't ask how because I can't answer that, sir about the tension..."

(Sighs) "I can do nothing for that, they will respect you as a person and not provoke you into a fight on my orders, but that's the limit of what I can do for this situation"

"I know sir, I knew coming in that my sacrifice would probably not truly be understood by anyone but you and that it will take time to gain their trust if I ever succeed in doing so"

"I'm told you led Cybertron for a time"

"I did"

"I will probably rely heavily on you for tactical leadership experience at times then"

"I figured as much"

"Oh and by the way I have new orders specific to you"

"Oh?"

"Yep, all orders you receive through me and that I receive through command are being confirmed by POTUS"

"Most likely until there's true trust again in regards to me, it's a safety measure so that I'm not deliberately given an order that is harmful to my health or unit even if unintentionally and it's also to keep you safe from giving me an order that was handed to you out of spite or one of the unit members to get you in trouble"

And Korra's commanding officer did indeed get five different spiteful orders in Korra's first week alone in her new unit

"Okay, the orders definitely make more sense now"

"Warned ya about this, integration training isn't going the greatest either, if we're needed soon it's going to range from rough to down right impossible real quick"

"Thinking about asking for a transfer?"

"Not doable since I would have the same problem every where's I go"

"Okay, I will just have to hope for the best then won't I?"

"Yep, I am  _trying_  to make this as smooth as possible but my previous actions..."

"Were needed in the end...Kerenai how long would we have been under the leadership of a false leader had you not chosen to sacrifice yourself?"

"I don't know, the Secret Service and the Vice President both knew the truth, but they were being held hostage by the knowledge that the President was in danger and would be killed if they made one wrong move"

"Exactly, the people who would normally act couldn't, they needed someone on the outside who was capable of doing what they could not, did your family know?"

"Yes, I finally received confirmation recently that if I hadn't acted within a certain period after my graduation from basic training they themselves would have taken some form of action"

"And things would have been oh so complicated had they been forced to act...Kerenai...what you did you did for the good of the country and your family ultimately, never forget that"

"I can't, and like I said I don't regret it but..."

"But it's now harder for you to assimilate into your unit since they are unaware of the full truth, even with the press conference"

"Exactly, the press conference didn't even give you guys the full story, just the basics, that the President was found by me and that I was under orders to find him while the Vice President handled any messes that the impostor had given him"

"Well for now all we can do is our best"

"Yes, that is indeed all we can do"

A month later Korra and her Captain's fears had been realized, their unit was being deployed within the hour and it was Korra vs her unit still, they worked with Korra if ordered but it wasn't cohesive and they did their best to leave Korra behind on the battlefield

"I am beginning to think I will never earn their trust Captain"

"Same here, but maybe overseas you might yet, oh and by the way there's a message for you that I have no hope of understanding"

Korra looks at the message and sighs

"Why do they do this to me right before we're deployed? I know why you have no understand and you're not meant to, oh fair warning there's also the possibility of the message being in Morse code"

"I am not able to read that either"

"Figures, I have talked to the President about that but so far nothing has come from that conversation"

Korra then reads the message from her family

*Korra, problem with a joint decision policy and am unsure how to handle it, government wants to speak with all four of us immediately, they do understand you have your duties though*

Korra makes a quick phone call and it's decided that the decision that had been made would stand until they could have a teleconference to properly discuss everything since Korra  _really_  couldn't have her orders changed so soon before deployment due to how hard it already was integrating her into a unit. Two days later her unit was in the Middle East actively fighting a group of known terrorists

"Get back to base Kerenai"

"I can help"

"I said...back to base... _now_ "

"Fine"

Korra gets back to base and deliberately prepares for possible attacks on said base and for emergency field medicine being needed, and once she was done with those preparations she did part of her normal morning routine, sticking to the self defense part only as a means to burn off pent up energy, suddenly she's interrupted by the base commander

"Kerenai you're supposed to be on patrol"

"Not with a unit that doesn't want me, if I stayed any longer I would have been on report, been injured by my own unit or both"

(Sighs) "I'm starting to wonder if classifying your mission was in your best interest"

"No one's entirely sure on that sir, however it is what it is and quite frankly I don't think they should know the full details anyways, that life for me was hard, the last two months of my assignment I was living off one meal a day and getting  _maybe_  three hours of sleep every day to day and a half, and  _that's_  if I was lucky. I don't regret doing what I did in order to save the country, I just hope that someday I get to prove myself worthy of their trust, but that's going to be hard to do until I can actually complete complex patrols like today's was supposed to be"

"Okay I'll let them know that they're under orders to keep you on the entire patrol barring emergency circumstances"

Suddenly Korra's head snaps to the gate and she speaks up

"Sir we've got potential trouble incoming"

Her unit bounds through the open gate and Korra instantly realizes that she wouldn't be allowed to do field medic duties and as such decides to raid the armory instead, getting a whole lot of weapons and then running to the closed gate

"Open the gate!"

The gate is quickly opened and Korra goes outside the safety of the base by a good few feet and starts to unload her arsenal, but as the enemy got closer she realized that her weapons were futile

"So it's them huh, no choice for it, Arranyan shields"

Korra focuses on the base behind her and creates a shield around the entire base, she then takes off her necklace and puts it behind her signaling just how far the shield was to go. Korra during her year of travel had gotten a procedure done which allowed her to control her powers slightly better with the necklace and normal necklace level control without since she had known for a while that such a scenario was a possibility

"Now Sintrosans, time for a fight"

And it was a fight Korra used her powers to exhausting levels for her, and the entire base could do nothing but watch, however in that watching several of the base members were  _starting_  to trust her despite her past, it was only the very beginnings of trust which meant it was very, very fragile, and even then the trust only extended to her actually fighting like she should be, but it was a start at least that would go unnoticed for some time due to how the base functioned. Finally the battle ended and Korra picked up her necklace and lowered the shields, only to see her Captain running towards her yelling her name

"Kerenai!"

"Cap...tain...thank...you"

Korra collapses into the arms of her Captain, who barely managed to reach her to actually be able to catch her in his arms

"Rest Kerenai...just rest and regain your strength, everything else will be worked out later"

Korra would end up in the medbay because of a combination of exhaustion and heat stroke for three days, but during that time a few of the more minor cases had actually allowed Korra to provide first aid for their injuries, even if there was two different times in the same day that all she could do was provide a pressure bandage in one case and a brace to prevent further injury in another until the doctor could actually look at them (both had initially thought it was a more minor problem, the pressure bandage was actually keeping the one from bleeding out from a very deep cut which was fortunately not nicking an artery while the brace was initially for a strain or sprain and turned out to be broken)

"You...you did okay Kerenai, though I have to wonder how you knew where my supplies were"

"Your layout is very familiar to another layout that I am more intimately familiar with, there were just a few things I expected in one place that was in another, for the record doctor  _never_  let a bored patient be on their own here if their files indicate any level of medical background knowledge"

(Sighs) "I do believe you familiarized yourself with my medbay once you were mobile"

"Just the medical books really, I'm telling the truth when I say this is familiar to another medbay that I have much more knowledge about, however the medical books...they were updated during my six months on a special assignment right out of basic training"

"Yes I have heard of that assignment, unfortunately for  _you_  I don't believe the government, however there's a very good reason behind that, and also why while I have kept you out is is more for the rest of the base's sakes than for yours"

"Oh?"

"EDC kid, I knew along with everyone else who has full clearance on you that there was obviously more to the story, however I haven't read your file and quite frankly your medical knowledge background only applied to your adopted family, at least as far as we're aware of your knowledge"

"That's probably because it was happening at the same time I was learning how to care for my family, I was given notice I was a field medic level person when I was sixteen and leading an entire planet"

"Makes sense, but Kerenai we need the full story, the EDC kids as a whole, and you know exactly why that's needed"

(Sighs) "I know, and the first thing you should know was that I was acting under orders like the reports state, but that was three days after I had a shoot on site order for me...the person I killed was an impostor and the Secret Service and the Vice President were being held hostage with the real President's safety on the line"

"You knew what you were giving up didn't you?"

"Yes I did, and I have never regretted the choice I made to basically sacrifice my freedom and risk being killed in order to find the real President"

"I will pass that on to those that are fully cleared to know about you within the EDC kid group, as for the rest of the base..."

"I know, I have to earn their trust myself, by the way why is your medbay set up very similar to Ratchet's?"

"Oh...didn't realize that actually, but that does explain your comment of how familiar the layout is"

"Yep"  
The base commander then comes in

"So how's Kerenai doing?"

"She's being discharged today, oh and if she's ever available I want her to help out in here"

"I'm glad someone is finally beginning to trust her"

"Except he has a slightly different background than the rest of the base, he's what's known as an EDC kid and they have more information about my background than most soldiers on the base do"

"Though that also depends on age and tests that we have to pass"

"Why do you think that is mister?"

"Oh I know the reason behind that, after all I have full clearance, he doesn't have our background knowledge though"

"I know enough about you guys, and I have full clearance on Kerenai seeing as how I'm the base commander"

"My Captain also trusts me since he too has almost full clearance, it's the rest of the base that's going to be a problem for a while if not my entire tour of duty"

"Nothing I can do for that unfortunately"

"Oh I know that, and have known that for a very long time"

"Well like I said I am at least ordering your unit to have you for complete patrols minus emergency exceptions that everyone is already fully aware of"

A month later and things were still rough on Korra, there still wasn't any real trust between her and her unit but she  _was_  going in and out of the base with her unit for the entire patrol, the only time that hadn't happened since they had received orders telling them that she was to complete her patrols with them was the one patrol where their comm systems went down and they needed support immediately, Korra was known to be the fastest runner of the group and so was sent back to base to get said support...and wasn't allowed back out despite her protests of being fine and was in fact knocked out by the base medic to keep her on base for the rest of the fight and then some. That evening though they would receive a visitor that, while it wouldn't change everything, it would change things enough to allow the entire base to understand that Korra had done what was needed for her entire country back when she supposedly betrayed said country


	28. Chapter 28

"Everyone we have an important visitor tonight, the President of the United States"

Everyone stands and salutes the President and he salutes back and then announces why he is here

"Korra Kerenai come up here"

Korra comes up and he presents her with the highest award he could give her

"For your sacrifice for the good of the country I hereby give you this medal"

"Sir I...I didn't do this to be recognized"

"I know, however my Vice President has told me you nearly starved yourself during the last two months of your search for me"

"I...I couldn't eat except at food vendors, I was always on the run, I may have been looking for you in order for the group that sent the impostor I killed brought down and my name cleared, but I...I..."

"You were always afraid in the back of your mind that you wouldn't succeed"

"Yes sir, I was so, so tired at the end when I found you"

"I'm sure you were Kerenai, I'm sure you were"

"The worst was the kill on site order that had to be done to keep the group that had you off my back as long as possible"

"That's why you stuck to food vendors at the end then"

"Yes sir, your Vice President tried to force me to stay for the day but he didn't succeed"

"Why did he do that?"

"I thought you knew"

"Oh I do, however have you forgotten the mike?"

(Sighs) "Now you tell me"

"Tell them Kerenai"

"Because I wasn't getting much sleep either, especially the closer I got to finding and rescuing you"

"How many people did you kill to find me Kerenai?"

"I'm not telling that"

"Kerenai..."

"No...it's enough for them to know I have killed for this country before I joined my unit, they do not need to know the exact details of how many I have killed already jut in the protection of this country against impostors"

"Very well, now then it's time to eat as far as I'm aware, so let's eat"

And so the President and troops eat and the President also gives Korra personal news from her family in regards to a slight situation back home

"Well looks like leave might be complicated when I get home"

"It is what it is"

"Indeed, it is what it is"

Korra and her unit are told that they had the next day off because while the President gave everyone orders to leave Korra alone about what had been revealed no one argued about the fact that her unit had the right to ask her questions to get clear answers, not even Korra. And so the group talked until it was dawn the next day

"And that's basically the whole story about the past several months and why I did what I did"

"I get it...I do, but still to sacrifice what you've sacrificed for the country..."

"I did it  _for_  the country because I knew it was needed. We could not follow a false President for very long and I knew that, we're just fortunate that everything worked out okay"

"But if it hadn't..."

"Don't worry there were contingency plans I promise you"

"Well for now it's time for bed, while we don't have patrol today we've been up all night and I'm tired"

"Agreed"

And so everyone goes to bed, what they didn't know was that they wouldn't wake up where they were supposed to be. Shortly after going to bed the base commander and the medic came in and drugged everyone for a long trip

"Sir are you sure this is okay?"

"Yes, I have backup that even Kerenai can't fight, Presidential orders, what no one knows is that he received word about an attack on this base and at least these people need to survive, besides they're needed at their new location"

"Okay, and you drugging Kerenai, after all..."

"That's why I called Ratchet when I found out about this, plus the reason I drugged her personally is because I am actually a medically trained person, I keep my qualifications current in secret. I wasn't always someone with a bad leg, I used to be a combat field medic, circumstances forced me to go to a desk"

"The leg injury"

"Yes, the leg injury"

"Now to get them to the plane"

"Yes"

And so they get to the plane and once a certain distance from the base the pilots read their secret orders

"So we have a convoluted path to get to our location"

"Yes, but it's for the best"

"So how are we supposed to get these people off when we get to our location?"

"There are people expecting them"

"Okay"

And so once they get to their location there were indeed people there to get the unit off the plane and into a tent. Fifteen hours later Korra was the first to wake up and the first thing that hit was the smell, she gave a few quick sniffs and then noticed that the rest of her unit was unconscious and decided to wake them up

"Captain, guys, wake up!"

They all wake up with a groan

"Not so loud Kerenai, I have a headache"

"We're not where we're supposed to be guys"

That wakes everyone up slightly and they start scrambling for their weapons, with Korra being the first and starting out when suddenly she noticed her pack with a note on it that stated to read immediately, and when she does she gives out an aggravated sigh

"Okay, we can't leave because we're under orders to remain in Vietnam"

"We're in 'Nam?"

"Yep, looks like, these are Presidential orders too so I can't fight them either"

"Still, we need to find out where exactly we are"

"Right"

The group heads out of the tent and a soldier quickly leads them to the camp leader

"I'm sure you have questions, I have the answers"

"Good, why are we here?"

"To understand what's going on I have to remember if you've received any outside news for the past eight or so months"

"Not really, we've been busy in the Middle East"

"Okay then, and I know Kerenai's situation, shortly after Kerenai killed the impostor Vietnam asked us for help due to citizens disappearing for a mysterious reason, since then we have lost five EDC units and three others with EDC kids and we now have such a clear understanding that I wish we still didn't have"

"What's going on?"

"EDC enemies, the last unit had one surviving EDC officer who lasted just long enough to tell us that it was an EDC enemy and the start of your last name"

"Can I see any pictures?"

"Yes"

They're shown the pictures and Korra has an intense/scared voice as she continues to speak

"I know that not having anyone armed at camp is due to ignorance but  _please_  tell me that they never leave camp unarmed"

"Correct, going into town isn't like back home, you have to have a minimum of three people and all of them have to have standard issued arms, one person has to carry extra ammunition and someone also not only has to be trained in the heavier artillery but also have extra ammunition for that as well"

"Good, start making sure no one goes unarmed any where's I'm surprised you haven't been ambushed yet as it is"

"So you know the enemy"

"Yes I do, can we go into town for a quick lay of the land?"

"Yes, curfew is nightfall, except for circumstances that you'll be told in a more detailed debriefing tomorrow, we need the town to know you and you to know them, it's saved lives in the past"

"Understood sir"

And so over the next two months the unit got used to their situation and learned the town like they needed to, finding out where certain supplies were and also learning just when they didn't have to obey curfew

"So, remember the day we got debriefed?"

"Oh yeah"

_Two months earlier_

"And that's basically everything that's going on in regards to your orders"

"Why weren't we told about the attack?"

"Because of you Kerenai"

"What?"

"I have permission for this but Kerenai...Kerenai the President knew that you would revert and resist your orders for as long as possible if you were told about the attack while still in the Middle East. You were a great sole leader for Cybertron from fourteen to just before seventeen when the true leaders came back and you became a co-leader, but that isn't what's needed from you anymore, he knew that what was needed was you able to push back your leadership background and obey orders no questions"

"You...led an entire planet?"

"Yes, and he's right, actually except for the day I ran back to get reinforcements I had to hold my tongue the entire time"

"Why didn't you return that day anyways?"

"I was drugged by the base medic, no chance of returning then"

"True enough"

"So...why didn't you say something to us when we were fighting you on being part of the patrol?"

"I knew it was a trust issue"

"Oh...so...the words the officer left"

"Yeah...it was hard hearing his final words, but it was needed, oh and by the way the Middle East base survived, I had to cash in some major favors, and the fact that they held on for so long is a credit to them, but it survived"

"Well that's good to hear, now then we have a routine to properly adjust to, and besides I want to start visiting the town on a more regular basis so that we do get to know the townsfolk"

"Good thinking, just don't forget the rules of the camp"

"I won't, oh wait quick question, about what you said earlier sir, do they pass on messages from the soldiers and also let the camp know if someone is unable to obey curfew for a reason other than the preauthorized ones?"

"Yes"

"Okay then"

And so that's exactly what they do

_Present_


	29. Chapter 29

"It's been a long two months, he was right, time passes differently here"

"True enough"

"By the way, why do you know Morse code?"

"Okay, two things, first off understand that I was a pre-teen back then and didn't fully understand what I do know about the whole situation back then, also understand that I will be using pseudonyms for everyone's protection"

_Twelve years old_

Korra was frustrated and just about ready to scream, Prowl had become mute because of his experience almost dying due to a weapon, he had already been recovering for a month but they were no closer to figuring out a way to communicate with him except through notes, which meant Prowl would have to be kept on desk duty once he was physically well enough to join in the battles, and he also would never again be able to do his job as a tactician due to his inability to communicate. At the moment she was doing homework while thinking about Prowl due to the fact that she was struggling with some advanced math concepts and he was the best person to help her out, but because of his being mute it would be way too frustrating to ask him for help on both ends

"Okay I can't do this right now I need to relax because otherwise I am going to hurt myself"

Korra decides to watch some television and stumbles across a series with a deaf character using sign language to communicate

"Sign language...of course that's how he can communicate with us in person!...but what about over the comm system?"

Korra then decides to do some research and comes across information about Morse code, becoming excited she goes to the medbay to confirm something with Ratchet

"Ratchet I need to talk to you real quick"

"What is it Korra?"

"I know you have doctor/patient confidentiality however I really need to know if Prowl's comm system is still functional"

"Korra that is privileged information"

"Ratchet...this is for Prowl's sanity, you know he'll want to be out in the fight once he's well enough"

(Sighs) "I can't deny that, however I still can't give you the answers you want, not without his express permission"

"Fine, then can you at least tell Prowl and the leaders that I have an idea that might work to get Prowl back on full active duty once he's physically cleared that I want to talk to them about?"

"Yes I can do that, now then Prowl will be coming for his daily therapy session soon so I would suggest you leave if you don't want to talk to him now about your idea"

"You're right it's not a good time, besides I have homework I need to deal with"

Two hours later all four of them were in Optimus' office with Korra since they had all agreed to talk to her about her idea in person

"Korra, Ratchet said you have an idea that will get Prowl back on duty once he's physically cleared"

"Yes, I got the idea from both watching a television series and from some online research, I was thinking that Prowl could use sign language when speaking face to face with someone and...if his comm system is still working he can use Morse code over said comm system to communicate his orders"

The four of them look at Korra dumbstruck having not thought about that possibility before

"You know that just might work, but Korra this will be the hardest for you since we can simply use the internet to learn what we need, you will have to learn the long way"

"I know it will take time, but you also know I pick things up faster than most, and I am going to be extremely motivated to do so as well"

"You have a point, very well if Prowl is on board with this we will alert the rest of the troops of what's going on and make sure you start learning sign language and Morse code tomorrow"

Prowl was definitely all for it and over the next six moths Korra learned both sign language and Morse code so as to finally communicate with Prowl properly again without the need for notes. They had frustrating moments of course and discovered a nice surprise one day during battle, Prowl had been hit with a weapon and Mirage was with him covering his back and saw the hit and naturally asked Prowl about his condition forgetting for a moment that Prowl was now mute

"Prowl are you okay?"

Prowl himself while unable to forget about being mute was frustrated by this point at his loss to communicate normally and tried to use his voice and made a high pitched sound which surprised both bots, who also took cover

"Prowl, did you just try and say something?"

Prowl nods and then resorts to his comm system

::-.- . ... / .. / -.. .. -.. -..- / .- - / ..-. .-. ..- ... - .-. .- - . -.. / .- .. - ... / .-.. .- -.-. -.- / - ..-. / -. - .-. - .- .-.. / ... .-. . . -.-. ... -..- / -.. - -. .-. - / -.- -. - .- / .- ... .- - / ... .- .-. .-. . -. . -.. / .- ..- ... - / -. - .- / - ... - ..- -. ...::

"We'll have Ratchet take a look later, first we need to finish the battle"

After the battle Prowl went to Ratchet and explained what had happened and that's when it was discovered that the damage had destroyed his ability to ever speak again, however the replacement voice box was just intact enough to emit pitch noises from it and through that they had an agreement on what sound meant what for him

_Present_

Korra finished her modified story of how she learned Morse code when suddenly she was given a piece of paper with a message naturally in Morse, but this time it wasn't Prowl who had sent the message but someone in Japan from an EDC base who knew about Korra and her knowledge of Morse code and also the fact that she was close enough to receive the signal

_Message_

... - ... -..- / ... - ... -..- / . -.. -.-. / -... .- ... . / ..- -. -.. . .-. / .- - - .- -.-. -.- -..- / .- .- .-. .- -. / .. -. / - .-. - ..- -... .-.. . -..- / ... . -. -.. / ... . .-.. .-. / .. - - . -.. .. .- - . .-.. -.-

_End message_

"Where's the Captain?"

"In his tent"

"Right"

Korra runs to the Captain's tent and interrupts a meeting

"Captain!"

"Korra...you know better"

"Japan is in trouble, they need help immediately, just received the message from an EDC base"

"Show me"

Korra reads the message out loud instead knowing that the rest of the people in the meeting also needed to know what the message said

"SOS, SOS, EDC base under attack, Japan in trouble, send help immediately"

"That's not good, but why not send it to another EDC base and why did you read it out loud?"

"It's in Morse code, as for why it wasn't sent to another base I have no idea"

"Anything concerning you?"

"Besides the two obvious reasons there is, the fact that they resorted to Morse in the first place and the fact that they shouldn't have been able to reach us, which means they used something to boost their power and that would have easily compromised them"

"And the fact that they resorted to Morse code?"

"If they could have they would have used the radio and spoken what was going on and the message would have been in English, that they used Morse means they were trying to keep things as secure in regards to the message as possible, but like I said they must have boosted their power which means the ones who sent the message are busted"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I recognize the sending code, it's used only in an emergency where a message can't be sent over the secured lines of the base"

"So do you have a plan?"

"Yep, however it's complicated due to the situation here"

"How complicated are you talking about?"

"Somehow getting the right reinforcements and then another issue I will explain afterwords"

"More favors?"

"Nope I have something else in mind this time"

"What might that be?"

"Passing this message on and then going from there"

Korra goes to the communication tent and then puts out a call after securing the communication system

"Korra to EDC home base, Korra to EDC home base please respond"

The response she gets is one only she understands but unfortunately is also one that she didn't want this time

"Prowl, get one of the Primes or Galvatron on the line immediately, I have an urgent message to pass on"

Prowl quickly gets Optimus on the line

"What's going on Korra?"

"I have a message to pass on to you guys that unfortunately is only lucky that I am here to know that it needed passed on to you"

"What's the message?"

"It's and I quote 'SOS, SOS, EDC base under attack, Japan in trouble, send help immediately' end quote, you know as well as I do that they shouldn't have used Morse code, plus they busted themselves since it was done through an unsecured radio line, you need to send people over immediately to Japan and hope for the best"

"We will, we'll let you know the outcome once we know ourselves"

"Thanks, Kerenai out"

Korra then ends the connection and sees everyone who had been informed by Korra initially staring at her

"Oh...that's what you meant by not using any favors"

"Exactly, the fact that the message stated that it was an EDC base should have clued you in in the first place"

"Good point"

"So that wasn't complicated at all"

"Oh that wasn't the complicated part, the complicated part is getting this camp prepared for an influx of EDC officers and maybe Japanese refugees and also keeping them out of our business, plus while we have our orders, once the President hears about this that might change which would affect the whole camp depending on what he orders overall"

"Okay, that's complicated"

"Exactly, now then I guess we can start by setting up more tents and clearing more area to grow a bit"

"Getting more supplies from town is a good idea too"

"Maybe...maybe some of the more established soldiers could actually live in town until the Japanese situation gets resolved"

"Either that or they can apply to both the Vietnamese and South Korean governments for temporary refugee status"

"By the way, just how did a message from Japan reach Vietnam?"

"That's a bit complicated that I will not be getting into right now"

"Fine, but you  _will_  tell us if it becomes necessary"

"Don't worry I will, now then we all have things to do to prepare for what's coming"

Ultimately there were indeed temporary refugees, but not only in Vietnam and South Korea, China and Taiwan also took in some refugees. Korra's unit was also deployed to Japan despite the fact that they were truly needed in Vietnam still due to the fact that the enemy was that hard for everyone, but in compensation the camp in Vietnam got soldiers from Cybertron and two EDC units from Indonesia. However her unit didn't fare too well and except for Korra was wiped out, and Korra was unconscious and seriously hurt, being medivaced to China first before going to America. After a week in an induced medical coma she finally woke up and asked the question everyone knew she would which the doctor answered due to need

"My unit?"

"I regret to inform you that you're the only survivor of your unit"

"I see, the situation in Japan?"

"Not the greatest, but it's getting there"

"Am I being discharged from the Army?"

"No, somehow you managed to avoid being that seriously injured, but you will be here for a bit still I'm afraid, you broke both your legs, cracked four ribs, somehow you managed to avoid a broken back but it's still badly bruised and also a concussion, I also had you in an induced medical coma for a week because you were initially on the ventilator for severe smoke inhalation and I had to make sure you didn't bruise your lungs as well, somehow you avoided that complication"

(Sighs) "Well I'm stuck for at  _least_  another two weeks if not another month, plus I still have healing time at home to deal with"

"Exactly"

Korra ultimately would wind up in the hospital for an entire month, with another three months of healing needed before she was cleared for even light duty but finally she was back on duty. During that time she learned that the situation in Japan was completely resolved while the situation in Vietnam remained the same, but the President was moving his troops around to finally resolve the issue in Vietnam, plus the Vietnamese government had finally also asked for help from the United Nations and several member nations were also sending people over to help Vietnam with their problem, her family stayed out of it for the moment despite it being EDC enemies only because being involved would have made the situation that much worse

"So...soon then in regards to Vietnam"

"Yes, the President wishes that you were able to join in the fight, you deserve it in all honesty but your injuries..."

"I know, I am only just cleared for light duty and will remain such for a while longer yet"

"He did mention an invitation to the White House for a first hand account since this will be watched live"

"Not the same as actually being there, but it will have to do"

A few days later Korra was in the White House and watching the final attack on the enemy live and the fight did cost many lives, but the enemy was finally truly defeated and Vietnam freed from fear of going outside and facing an enemy they were never meant to face on their own

"So what are your thoughts on this?"

"I'm glad I saw this, I regret it cost the amount of lives that it did, but this was needed, for Vietnam, the civilians should never have been forced to deal with this threat for so long"

"And the fact that you weren't there yourself to see it through?"

"I wish things had been different and I could have joined them, but I know that life is what it is and I will be back on full active duty soon enough"

"Kerenai, you've been off duty for four months already and only just got back on light duty"

"I know, but what the doctors don't know is that what seemed serious isn't all that serious for me, you know I heal at a slightly faster rate than most people, plus what no one knows is that I managed to use my powers, even if they were reduced in effectiveness by the enemy they still worked which helps the situation by a lot"

"When's your next appointment?"

"Two weeks from now"

"Let's hope then, by the way once I get medical clearance for you I already have a unit I think you'll fit in well with"

"Like my first unit?

"Hey now part of that was what you were doing for six months to save the country, they didn't exactly understand what you were truly doing even with the press conference"

"You have a point sir"

Two weeks later Korra was told that she wasn't cleared for fully duty yet, but she was definitely closer than when she first got out of the hospital

"Your left leg is what I'm still concerned about Kerenai, your back and everything else has healed pretty well, but that left leg is refusing to heal any further it seems"

"Hm...can I see my scans, I might be able to explain what you are seeing in a way that is understandable for why it is the way it is"

As soon as Korra sees the scans for her left leg she lets out a knowing sigh

"My leg is as good as it's going to get unfortunately, this is what happened to me in Japan, however there was already minor previous damage from an incident when I was fifteen and Japan made the damage more obvious, I can function normally and without pain, it just looks odd in x-rays and other scans"

"Very well, however I am not clearing you quite yet"

"Why not?"

"Your blood counts indicate an infection from something, need to see what the infection is and start you on antibiotics first"

"Infection...but when...oh wait, I know what it might be, I had an accident recently in preparation for full duty and landed in mud, we thought we were okay, guess we were wrong"

"We?"

"The base medic and I since I slightly understand medical information"

"Well, still not sure what type of infection it is so more blood work is needed to see the exact antibiotics needed for this issue"

"Thus another two weeks of off duty"

"Afraid so, just making sure that the antibiotics are working"

Two weeks later and Korra is cleared for full duty and introduced to her new unit, there were minor integration issues initially due to the fact that Korra was still actually grieving the loss of her first unit and her current unit was a bit hesitant on being with someone who might not have fully processed their loss, but otherwise they were fine with working with Korra despite what happened for six months in the interest of her country. Once they talked out their issues with each other they quickly started learning how to work and live together effectively


	30. Chapter 30

"Sorry it took so long for us to get our acts together"

"It's okay, we expected a rough transition period for both sides, I just wish we had understood how the grief would affect you Kerenai"

"Even I wouldn't have been able to explain"

"What does she mean?"

"Everyone reacts to grief differently, plus each time someone experiences grief it may affect them differently from a different period in their life"

"Well for now you have cross training with Britain, the reason why is because the President and Prime Minister are planning a joint operation for something and you're one of the units chosen to participate"

"That's all you can tell us isn't it?"

"Exactly"

Two weeks later the group was doing training exercises when one exercise deliberately tested on their resourcefulness after an attack

"We need reinforcements and supplies"

"We have a problem"

"What's the problem?"

"We have a broken radio?"

"How broken?"

"That's what I'm not sure about, our radio guy was killed in the attack"

"I'll look at it, might be able to fix it too"

Korra looks at it and fifteen minutes later gives out a sigh

"Okay, so I can't  _completely_  fix it, however I can still make use of this device, I'm just going to have to hope that the person on the other side understands the message, or can pass it on to someone who does"

And with that Korra starts tapping out a message in Morse code, because the part she managed to fix was the transceiver and she ad hocked a receiver for Morse code, but the rest she couldn't fix, as such trying to send messages by speaking wouldn't work

_Message_

-.- - .-. .-. .- / - - / -... .-. .. - .. ... ... / -.-. - - - .- -. -.. -..- / -.- - .-. .-. .- / - - / -... .-. .. - .. ... ... / -.-. - - - .- -. -.. -..- / ..- .-. -. . -. - / .-. . -.- ..- . ... - / ..-. - .-. / ... ..- .-. .-. .-.. .. . ... / .- -. -.. / .-. . .-. ... - -. -. . .-.. .-.-.- / .- - - .- -.-. -.- / - -. / -... .- ... . / .-.. .- ... - / -. .. -. ... - .-.-.- / .-. .- -.. .. - / -... .-. - -.- . -. .-.-.- / .- -.. / ... - -.-. -.- . -.. / ... - .-.. ..- - .. - -. / -... . .. -. -. / ..- ... . -.. .-.-.- / .-. . .-. . .- - / ..- .-. -. . -. - / .-. . -.- ..- . ... - / ..-. - .-. / ... ..- .-. .-. .-.. .. . ... / .- -. -.. / .-. . .-. ... - -. -. . .-..

_End message_

"Well now all we can do is wait and see if the message is understood"

"What about actually getting through?"

"Oh no, I made sure to not only get the message through but also unable to be intercepted"

"How long should we wait?"

"A day to a day and a half, after that..."

"Our supplies would be too dwindled to work"

"Exactly"

"How bad is our food situation?"

"Immediately on rations"

"Not quite Lieutenant, I can hunt, trap and fish, basically I can get us food for a long while since I also know how to make weapons, however...there's an even bigger problem that I am unfortunately unable to solve by myself and even then it won't be completely"

"What's the problem?"

"Weather, not only does it look like a storm on the horizon, but we're also nearing winter, if supplies don't come soon..."

"Wait, you know how to make shelters too?"

"Yes, however not only do we not have the supplies for a very well done shelter, they're also meant to be very temporary"

"How temporary is temporary?"

"They'll last one week, two if we're lucky"

"Ouch...that's temporary alright, if the message isn't understood we'll have to winter here though"

"And lose people because of that"

"No help for that I'm afraid"

Fortunately there were indeed people who understood Morse code and three days after Korra sent the message and one day after the inevitable storm hit a group came by to pick them up and one of them had something very important to tell them

"Okay everyone, this training exercise is over with, the test was to see how resourceful you could be after a sudden attack, if we hadn't heard from you soon we would have sent someone to tell you that you failed, however someone here knows Morse code, and how to fix a radio just enough to make it work for said Morse code"

"Kerenai, she's also the one who supplied us with food for the past day and a half"

"What about shelter?"

"She told us what to do and helped us, but we made it ourselves, she said she wouldn't tell us what to do otherwise"

"Lots of mistakes, but I expected that to be honest, except for that one shelter, that shelter..."

"Yeah, it was useless alright"

"Beyond useless actually"

"How would you know?"

"That's what I did my very first ever time trying to make a shelter for survival, it didn't last three minutes against a storm"

"Okay yeah that's pretty useless alright, now then everyone into the trucks, we're headed back to base for debriefing and to tell you more about what's going to happen due to what the storm ultimately did for the training exercises"

The group finds out that the storm flooded the area they were supposed to be training in next, including the town and that everyone who was available was currently helping the town with the disaster but that they themselves were not going to be doing so

"But..."

"We have no time Kerenai, we must deploy the two units before the training us truly completed" (sighs) "I know that we've been very vague for a long time but now I can reveal what is going on, for the past several months, almost the entire time it took you to heal and integrate into your unit Kerenai, Russia has been having the same problems that caused you and your unit to go to Vietnam Kerenai, only this time the EDC have been involved from the beginning, including their big guys, and when I say big guys I mean their mobile cities, unfortunately both of them were badly injured and the EDC aren't doing the greatest either. The Russian military is also getting to have problems with manpower and as such we are to supplement them"

"Wait...what do you mean Metroplex and Tripticon are injured? How badly are their injuries and just how many of my family...the Cybertronians have been injured?"

"Your family?"

(Sighs) "I was hoping you would miss that slip up, yes my family, the Cybertronians raised me from when I was a baby, now then How. Bad. Are. They?"

"Most of the Cybertronians have what their medics Ratchet, First Aid and Hook are calling moderately severe injuries, which I hear is being described as missing limbs, deep cuts, and wounds close to their sparks that keep them unconscious for a day or two for healing. The two cities however...they have major spark damage and are on spark support even after several months, they're awakened once every two days at minimum, and...Metroplex nearly died a few times already, he's the more unstable of the two apparently with Tripticon hopefully being able to truly be awakened if not back on active duty in another month while Metroplex...they're unsure when that will happen for the moment"

"You think that they didn't mention that it might be an if don't you?"

"Yes, I was there actually when the two city's were hit though I didn't hear the rest of what was wrong until I was stationed here, I knew it was bad but...well let's just say I didn't see the full damage done to them before we were evacuated by another Transformer who I didn't get the name of, though boy do I wish I had"

They soon are in Russia and three days later things were  _not_  going well with Korra actually having to use her powers and self defense style in combination with one another, fortunately her family had finally fixed the problems she had been having with weakness while she was recovering from Japan, it turned out that there was a chemical imbalance now, but all she needed to do was take daily medicine and she would no longer have problems with combining the two ever again. Suddenly though her Captain went down and she saw it happen

"NO!"

She runs over to him and finds him still alive, but just barely

"Hang on Captain, you're going to be alright"

(Cough) "injuries...too severe...dying...listen...I know...enemies weakness...weaker than...they seem...you must...defeat the...towers...those give...the enemy...powers...once defeated...all enemies die...not life force...but will...make them...weak enough...to beat...the...m"

Korra's scream of grief is heard across the battlefield, what no one knew was that Korra's emotions had finally snapped, while she had properly dealt with the grief of losing her first unit, the three days of almost non-stop battle and death had finally gotten to her with the death of her Captain, it really was too soon after her first units death to lose even one member of her new unit, even if she had started to truly overcome the loss of her first unit. She suddenly had two swords in her hands and she went on a rampage, however that used up a lot of her energy and she would be unable to destroy all of the towers, but due to her relentless targeting of said towers whenever she wasn't fighting someone the rest of the task-force also targeted the towers and easily defeated the enemies that she herself could not due to passing out. Several hours later Korra wakes up and realizes what had happened and gives out a sigh

"So...how much damage did my rampage do to the cause?"

"Actually, this whole section of Russia is now free because we realized what you were doing, at this rate we should have all of Russia free within the month now that we know their weakness"

"At least my grief filled rampage was good for something then, but still..."

"We know, we have to find a way of preventing that happening to you again, you take too much damage from that and then there's the fact that we had a hard time getting to you to get to back to safety"

"There's another reason why this situation needs to be avoided at all costs if possible"

"What's that?"

"The emotional backlash I get, I was forced to grow up so fast due to my family circumstances, and I can deal with grief and death and fighting, but I have severe emotional backlashes due to just how long it took for my family to start letting me be a normal person, and that was interrupted due to emergency circumstances within the family as well. It's part of why I went on a rampage I believe, I have tried  _so_  hard over the past few years to just be a normal person, however it appears I still don't process emotions normally and I suffer for that"

"This could happen again couldn't it?"

"Yes, especially if I see a family member fall"

"Well for now I need you to somehow gain emotional control over yourself because we still have a lot of country to free"

"Don't worry, I know what to do for the rest of the mission"

Two months later with a new Captain for the unit, they and the rest of the task-force finally free Russia, though not without more losses, however they were not as heavy due to knowing the enemy's weakness

"Russia is finally free"

"Yes, it is"

"Kerenai, I have our next orders but...they make absolutely no sense"

"Let me see"

Korra reads the message and realizes what's going on

"Oh okay, I get it now, looks like we have an assignment in New Zealand briefly and then we're being ordered to the Middle East"

"Why didn't the President just tell us that himself?"

"That I'm not sure of, might be just in case the message was intercepted"

"So what are we going to New Zealand for anyways?"

"Who knows, but I'm sure we'll find out when we get there"

They get to New Zealand and discover that they were there for specialized mountain climbing training

"Kerenai, you may not necessarily need this training, however try and treat it as team bonding if that turns out to be the case"  
"I will, and besides, it's always a good idea to keep your skills up and current because you never know if something new has been discovered or decided on in a topic or subject"

They started a two week training session that would never be completed due to a message that only one person would understand, though it was initially given to the Captain due to his rank

"Korra I have a message here, but unfortunately due to the fact that Morse code has practically been forgotten by everyone I can't translate it, however I read in your files that you've been using Morse code since you joined the armed forces and it has a secondary notation, something about you saying you've been exposed since you were twelve years old"

"What's the message?"

"Here"

_Message_

\- ... .. ... / .. ... / .-. .-. - .- .-.. -..- / -.- - .-. .-. .- / - ... . .-. . / .. ... / .- / -.- ..- .. -. - . ... ... - -. / .- - - .- -.-. -.- / ... . .- -.. .. -. -. / - - / . .- .-. - ... -..- / .- .-.. . .-. - / -.- - ..- .-. / ..- -. .. - / - - / .-. - ... ... .. -... .-.. . / . -.. -.-. / .. -. - . .-. .- -.-. - .. - -. / .- -. -.. / .- .-.. ... - / .- .-.. . .-. - / -.- - ..- .-. / -.-. - - - .- -. -.. .. -. -. / - ..-. ..-. .. -.-. . .-. / - ... .- - / -.- - ..- / .- .-. . / - ... . / .-.. .. .- .. ... - -. / .- -. -.. / ..- -. .. - / -.-. - - - .- -. -.. . .-. / .- ... . -. / -.. . .- .-.. .. -. -. / .- .. - ... / . -.. -.-. / - ..-. ..-. .. -.-. . .-. …

_End message_

"Good thing you're cleared for this sir, here's what the message says and I quote 'This is Prowl, Korra there is a Quintesson attack heading to Earth, alert your unit to possible EDC interaction and also alert your commanding officer that you are the liaison and unit commander when dealing with EDC officers' end quote, and by the way that is the only way you're going to get anything from Prowl over the communication system"

"I remember hearing about a Cybertronian becoming mute due to an attack and that they now communicated in a different way, didn't realize it was the second-in-command"

"Yeah, we didn't really make a big deal about it seeing as how the family is able to adapt quite easily, now then we should get ready like Prowl said we should, oh do you know sign language?"

"Now _that_  I can handle seeing as how I have an older brother who's deaf from birth, let me guess if we're actually with Prowl he uses sign language"

"Exactly, Morse code is for the communicator, sign language is in person"

"Um...just how bad was the attack that caused damage bad enough to permanently mute Prowl?"

"That's personal and will have to be answered by Prowl himself sir, I don't feel comfortable explaining that time period to you"

"Understood, now then let's inform the troops of the situation, oh and Korra?"

"Sir?"

"You're teaching me Morse code when possible, might come in handy in the future even if it's just to deal with your mute family member"

"Not a problem sir, anything else you need?"

"Not right now, though we should start making those preparations...oh wait what about our original orders from the President?"

"Um...we're going to have to inform POTUS about this actually since he might not have been made aware of the issue by my family yet"

"Why let you know before the President?"

"Because I was their leader for a bit most likely"

"Wait what?"

"From shortly before I turned fifteen to a few months after I was seventeen I was either the sole leader or co-leader of Cybertron for reasons I am not getting into"

It would turn out that the President did already know, because he was the one who actually alerted the EDC to the problem, because somehow NASA discovered the Quintessons before the Cybertronians did

"Orders to be received once you know where you want us?...yes sir...yes sir...understood sir...bye"

Everyone looks at Korra for their next instructions


	31. Chapter 31

"Okay, so it looks like he's already aware of the problem and is currently figuring out where he actually wants us now, because it's definitely not in the Middle East, not with our issue suddenly coming up"

"So we stay here then for further training until our orders come through?"

"Yes, however what we're going to be doing is helicopter training with New Zealand now, teaching each other our techniques against Quintessons, oh and ground fighting as well"

"Makes sense actually"

They ultimately remain in New Zealand for another three months before they received their new orders from the President

"Okay, looks like we have orders to be in...Indonesia looks like, remote enough that we have very little risk to civilians but not too remote that help will be too far away at need"

"Okay then, let's pack up and head to Indonesia"

"Kerenai, there is one more thing, you have separate coded orders"

"They were in Morse weren't they?"

"Yes, and I understood the orders, but I am keeping them private like I believe you would want"

"Thanks sir"

Korra reads her orders and everyone hears her groan

"Well, I don't like it but orders are orders, see you guys after I take care of something, hope the camp is ready for me when I get there"

"Wait what?"

"Sorry guys, I have orders separating me from this unit for a special solo mission"

"But...but we only just met it seems"

"I know, but you know as well as I do that I have to obey my orders, just like you guys have to obey your orders"

"What's the plan to meet up again?"

"Not sure really, give me a bit longer and I might figure that one out"

Before they could make any further movements though a solider from New Zealand army showed up

"Um...there's paperwork that a Korra Kerenai needs to sign, the message that came with it said that while she's not K'nish'thlan she still needs to do this paperwork, something about special reports that even now she's allowed to handle if they so decided"

(Sighs) "I should have known, the pitfalls of being a leader for around three years"

Korra takes the paperwork and then starts working through it

"Approved...approved...approved...denied, what was he even thinking with this proposal in the first place?...approved...denied due to funds...and approved"  
She hands the paperwork back to be sent to the right people and then the unit starts getting their camp broken down for movement. Once that was done Korra leaves her unit and unknown to them they wouldn't see her for a long while. A month into their new assignment a soldier intercepts a message but is unable to read it, however having been informed that the Captain knew Morse code he takes the message and then finds the Captain

"Sir you're the only one who knows Morse code, we need you"

"Alright what do we have?"

"Here sir"

_Message_

-.-. .- .-. - .- .. -. -..- / -... .- ... . / .-.. .- .-. -. . .-. / - ... .- -. / ... ..- ... .-. . -.-. - . -.. -..- / -. - - / - ..- -.-. ... / - .. - . -..- / ... .. - ..- .- - .. - -. / -.. . .-.. - .- -...- ...- ..- -..- / .- .. .-.. .-.. / - .-. -.- / .- -. -.. / -.-. - -. - .- -.-. - / .- ... . -. / ... .- ..-. . -..- / .. ..-. / -.-. .- .-. - ..- .-. . -.. / -. - / .-. . ... -.-. ..- . / - - / -... . / - .- -.. .

_End message_

"Okay, Korra isn't going to come to our location yet, and it looks like we might be in trouble, but for now all we're going to do is up our patrols"

"The message sir?"

"Classified unless necessary"

"Yes sir"

"Sir there's another message for you"

_Message_

_-.-. .- .-. - .- .. -. -..- / - ... .. ... / .. ... / .-. .-. - .- .-.. / .. / .- - / -.-. - - .. -. -. / .- .. - ... / . -.. -.-. / - ..-. ..-. .. -.-. . .-. ... / ..-. - .-. / -... .- ... . / .. -. ... .-. . -.-. - .. - -. / - - / - .- -.- . / ... ..- .-. . / - ... .- - / - ... . / ..-. .- -.-. .. .-.. .. - -.- / .. ... / ... ..- .. - .- -... .-.. . / ..-. - .-. / . -.. -.-. / .- - .-. -.-_

_End message_

"Okay, who here knows sign language?"

Three hands raised up

"Okay you three are to be part of the welcoming committee to the EDC who are going to inspect our base to see if it's suitable for them to work in"  
Two days later they met the EDC officers who all introduced themselves

"And this is Officer Prowl"

Prowl transforms and immediately goes into sign language

*My name is Prowl, I can hear and understand you however due to reasons I am not going to discuss I am now mute and am only able to communicate through sign*

"Someone is to be with Prowl at all times to act as his translator am I understood?"

"Yes sir, shall we explain that he can hear us?"

"You'll probably have to unfortunately"

"Understood"

"Oh, there is something you should know, he can make noises somehow, if anything happens know that a high pitched sound means he's good to go, a low constant pitch means something is wrong and a quick low pitch is an affirmative for whatever you're asking or needing him to do"

"What about a negative?"

"For that he shakes his head and will tap the back of one of his hands twice signifying that it's not possible"

"Got it"

Two months later they learn that Korra was missing and presumed a POW, that would start a six month search where a Marine unit ultimately found her, but when she was brought back to base they discovered a surprise. In medbay

"Korra, this is a sensitive question but I have to ask, how many times were you sexually assaulted during your captivity?"

"You can say rape doctor, and I was raped almost every day during my captivity, there was only one period where I was given a week's rest...why?"

"Because you're pregnant, looks like you're about three months along"

(Sighs) "I think I know what day you're talking about then"

_Three months ago_

Korra was asleep when suddenly the door to her cell came open and as soon as she saw the handcuffs she knew that it was time for her daily assault. She wasn't sure how long she had been captive but she knew the pattern by now which was that she was raped every day at least two or three times but never more than five. However what she didn't know was that day was going to be different, her assailant started by the routine of cuffing her to the bed and then started fondling her all over her body, mostly her private parts were fondled, and then he started kissing her, during all this time she resisted which was why she was handcuffed in the first place. Once he got bored he laid on top of her and slowly and forcefully penetrated her lower region, still kissing and fondling her the entire time. He originally stopped after the fifth time and Korra figured that was it, unfortunately she would be wrong, once the fifth time was done he was just as forceful as before but this time he was quick with the assault, he would assault her over a hundred more times during the day before finally leaving her alone to rest. The next day she was given fresh air and witnessed the death of her assailant, all she was told was that he had broken a rule and was being killed for it, she didn't know that the rule that was broken was that she was to be raped no more than five times in one day, once she saw his death she was lead back to her cell and left alone for a week without reason, not knowing that her captors had decided to give her body a week to heal before continuing the raping. Once the week was up they started raping her once more but this time measures were put into place so that the rule of no more than five times in one day was truly enforced. Three months after the death of her assailant she had just been raped for the first time that day when suddenly she heard a gun shot and the person raping her fell on top of her dead, when his body was removed she initially panicked before recognizing the uniform of the United States Marine Corps. Once the building was secure she was whisked away to safety where she learned the aftermath of being assaulted over a hundred times in one day

_Present_

"And that's basically the story"

"Well that day was the day you were impregnated than, now I have to ask what you plan to do about it"

"I plan to keep the child, my family will help me raise it"

"Understood"

"By the way, where's my captain?"

"Right here Kerenai"

"Captain...why was I disobeyed?"

"Two words for you POTUS and family"

"Oh...okay that would do it"

"Yes, it would"

The next six months things were normal when three days before the estimated due date Korra started to feel the beginnings of labor so went to the hospital to check in. she was indeed in the early stages and so was told that it might be a while and as such she settled in for a long wait. Two hours later she was simply walking in the hallway when suddenly she felt her water break

"Nurse...my water broke"

"Okay, let's get you back into your room then"

Two steps later though Korra was hit with a powerful contraction and knew that she wouldn't make it back to her room

"I'm not going to make it back"

"Okay...okay there's a doctor right here, let's sit you down so that he can check you"

"Okay looks like you're fully dilated, just listen to your body and do what it tells you, you can push whenever you feel like you need to, and we'll be here with you the entire time"

"I need to push"

"Okay, count backwards from ten while pushing"

Five minutes later the doctor, who had mainly been quiet the entire time spoke up again

"Okay I see the head, one or two more good pushes and the body should come out"

Two good pushes later the doctor speaks up again

"Congratulations, it's a girl, you have a daughter"

Seconds later she heard her daughter crying for the first time and then the umbilical cord is cut and her daughter is taken away for her baby checks. Two minutes later she expelled the afterbirth and five minutes after that she was back in her room giving her daughter her first feeding. A week later she was released from the hospital and had an EDC officer by her side for the first three months, after which she was back on active duty. Nine months after that she was deployed overseas which established a pattern over the next eighteen years of her daughter's life where her Cybertronian family looked after her daughter while she was away with the help of the EDC. Initially the EDC was there constantly but eventually Korra's daughter was old enough that all the EDC did was provide emergency signatures and a ride to and from school until she was old enough to have her own car and license. When Korra's daughter was nineteen and away at college Korra was killed in an attack on the EDC base (she had retired from the military when her daughter was fifteen and was now simply a consultant and temporary leader of Cybertron whenever the three primary leaders were not on Earth) and the country was under siege. Due to the fact that Korra's daughter had known English, Cybertronian, ASL, and Morse Code since she was seven years old she quickly established a branch of the resistance and confirmed that most of the Cybertronians were still alive and through Cybertronian and Morse Code staged attacks over a period of two years that would eventually free the country. After that Korra's daughter joined the military starting two more family traditions, one tradition was either military or EDC service, the other tradition was that every member of the family was fluent in English, Cybertronian, ASL and Morse Code, even those brought in through marriage


End file.
